TWO exciting pieces of information dropped quietly though my letterbox over the weekend, one from City of York Council informing me how much extra it is going to charge me for the council tax and the other from the Liberal Democrats telling me "Why it pays to live in York".
As expected the one from the city council was well presented, very factual and informed me that there would be a 4.93 per cent increase in the council tax which included a more than ten per cent increase in parish council precept.
Not so the Lib Dem leaflet. Its whole tone promotes how well the Lib Dems are doing. "Why it pays to live in York" goes on to explain that £180 goes to the police and £54 goes to the fire authority and "the council has no say over how much the police and fire authorities demand from residents".
Of course that's another Lib Dem lie. City of York Council has representatives on both authorities with full voting rights and they receive a large special responsibility payment for it.
The ten per cent increase in Rawcliffe Parish Council's precept would only be acceptable if it used the money raised to provide extra services. A starting point might be arranging for the footpath lights 34 to 43 to be repaired, but after the bonfire fiasco and wheelie bin farce, perhaps not.
Fylingdale Avenue,
Shipton Road,
York.
Updated: 10:48 Thursday, March 23, 2006
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