NEWS RELEASES
Local taxation - is it fairly applied?
6th October 2004
A LARGE number of residents have replied to Horsham District Council’s recent consultation exercise: ‘Local taxation – is it fairly applied?’
- 1,419 residents replied (2.7% of all households)
- 1,176 from parished areas
- 243 from unparished areas
The results show that:
- 1,088 (77%) thought the present position unfair
- 286 (20%) thought it fair
- 45 (3%) were undecided
Responding to the feedback, Cllr Liz Kitchen, Leader of Horsham District Council, said:
“I am very pleased with the number of people who have taken part in the survey. This is a complex matter and I am sure discussion will continue until the Council makes its final decision in January.
“An informed debate is essential and I would like to take this opportunity to reply to the questions that have been raised in letters to the West Sussex County Times.
“First and foremost, a special charge will yield no additional income to the Council. It is merely a method of more fairly distributing the current tax burden throughout the District. The Council does not have a shortfall of £200,000 as one writer suggests and the immediate impact of a special charge is a reduction in the District Council Tax. What increase is then agreed by the Council as part of next year’s budget is another matter, however government grant will be the principal factor.
“The County Times’ correspondents also refer to the use of facilities in the unparished area, but the question also needs to be asked who pays for them? Is it fair that a recreation ground provided by a Parish is paid for by Parish residents, but one provided in Bennetts Field, Horsham is paid for by all District residents?
“The point about taxation without representation is well made and, should a special charge be introduced, then the Council will want to consult with Neighbourhood Councils, who are elected, on the draft budget every year. However, I am sure that readers of the County Times would not want the bureaucracy of having a separate Town Council with all the costs that would involve. Major Town Councils in other parts of West Sussex have budgets of many hundreds of thousands of pounds a year.
“In November 1995, the District Council undertook a postal referendum of the unparished area to ascertain whether there was support for the establishment of statutory Parish Councils in Horsham town. On a turnout of over 40%, an overwhelming majority voted that they did not wish to have Parish Councils in the town.
“Residents of the unparished area who pay for a parking permit, for example, are receiving a service for which they need to pay. It would be wrong to expect parish or town residents not benefiting to contribute towards the cost of those specific services.
“There are approximately 55,000 Council taxpayers in this District. Of these, nearly 45,000 pay a parish precept on top of their District Council tax. These charges in the current year range from £3.48 p.a. to £62.52 p.a.
“It is usual for residents in town areas to pay more than residents in rural areas because of the services provided. Even if a special charge was to be introduced, town residents in the unparished area would continue to pay less than in many rural parts of the District.
“The services and facilities for which a charge would be made are already contained within the Council’s current budget. They include Christmas lights, floral displays, CCTV, recreation grounds, play areas, the Drill Hall and the Town Hall.
“The level of any special charge would have to be agreed by full Council as part of its budget setting decision, probably in January 2005. Such a charge would have to relate to specific expenditure within that budget and £20 was used for illustrative purposes but is, anyway, probably not too removed from a realistic level.
“I have asked for details of existing expenditure on local services in the town to be circulated to all Neighbourhood Councils and there will be further opportunities to debate this issue at ‘State of the District’ public debates at the following venues :-
- Tuesday, 19th October (7pm – 9pm) The Capitol, Horsham
- Thursday, 21st October (7pm – 9pm) Steyning Grammar School, Upper School, Steyning.”
Ends
CONTACT: Richard Morris, Communications Manager
(01403) 215549