Cllr Jen Walker writes about green issues and housing in Rushcliffe.
Jen writes:
‘We are approaching Budget time at the Council. This is where we approve how public money is spent and look to the future of how we will fund the services we all rely upon such as rubbish and recycling collection.
‘As a Labour Group we have opposed the budget these past two years because we are in opposition to the raising of Council Tax – especially at a time when the cost of living is increasing, National Insurance is rising, and people have lost their £20 uplift on Universal Credit (despite us seeing no end in sight to the difficulties posed by the pandemic).
‘All this while at the same time cheering on the establishment of a Freeport in our area that will see businesses paying zero tax.
‘With increasing pressures on local government funding, people will continue to bear the brunt of the financial burden with more and more feeling squeezed.
‘We also oppose Council Tax due to its regressive nature.
‘Council Tax is not linked to income, and it is still based on property values from 30 years ago – check the difference in the cost of housing in Rushcliffe compared to April 1991!
‘As we are seeing huge increases in household expenses this year due to the energy crisis, this is a perfect time to revaluate and update Council Tax for the 21st century.
‘For context – someone living in a property worth £100,000 pays around five times as much council tax relative to property value as someone living in a property worth £1m.
‘Unfortunately, this kind of debate is not heard or discussed – and it seems ears and minds remain closed to the kind of changes that we require to make our communities fairer, better places to live, work and raise our families in.
‘Instead of challenging the status quo and pushing for changes to our taxation system we continue to allow ourselves to be straight jacketed by the limited powers available to us at the borough and penalise already squeezed household budgets in the process.’
• READ MORE: November 2021: Rushcliffe Borough Council opposition leader Councillor Jen Walker’s column
Cllr Walker is the leader of the Labour group on Rushcliffe Borough Council and ward councillor for Ruddington.
