Band D households are now paying £400.00 more in Council Tax every year than they did a decade ago.
Monday 9th Jan 2023 10:49am
Local residents in Hartlepool are reported to be paying on average over four hundred pounds a year more in Council Tax than they did a decade ago, that’s according to data from the governments historic tables of council tax charged to all the boroughs in England Hartlepool matters has learned .
The average band D home in Hartlepool back in 2012 paid just £1420.00 a year for council tax payable to the borough of Hartlepool (without the usual addition of Parish precepts etc) , however in the data pulled from the governments own live tables & despite five years of council tax freezes introduced by the then coalition government under David Cameron, council taxes in Hartlepool then started to climb significantly once again, taking household bills to £1839.00 & even higher again to well over £2k for a Band D home in the town come April 2023.
In comparison, the average band A home in Hartlepool is now paying around the equivalent of what the average band D home cost in council tax some ten years ago.
The increases come as a decades worth of council tax rises has reportedly not been matched the levels of services being delivered upon by the local council, with many calling for an independent inquiry on the councils ability to deliver upon even the most basic level of services to the local community, after many of the towns residents brand the local council as no longer fit for purpose, following a decades worth of cuts to council departments which in turn has seen services stripped to the bone, but council tax income for the borough seemingly increasing,.
Plans due to go before the council this month will see a £45.00 fee for locals to have their garden waste collected, a move which has drawn significant public backlash...
Further announcements are due to be made in the coming weeks for Hartlepool Borough Council to approve yet another round of expenditure cuts that’s likely to see further potential job losses across the board, as well as the implementation of a controversial charge for garden waste collection services which many say will only serve to increase the areas fly tipping problems.
It was recently announced that despite Hartlepool’s significantly high levels of poverty & unemployment, the towns on track again to see it being branded as one of the highest council tax rateable areas in the country, however the local council has responded on a number of occasions arguing that rates in the area are so high because of the disproportionate numbers of homes sitting in Council Tax Band A as opposed to band D, with the council claiming its seemingly the areas low council tax base that's the reason as to why the authority whilst seeing significant housing growth over the last decade is continually having to increase council taxes to their highest levels set by the government.
The numbers of claimants in receipt of the councils controversial council tax support scheme also suggests that many of the areas low earners are being hammered by continual hikes in council tax, with a clear lack of support being given to some of the areas most vulnerable households by way of the council failing to offer 100% protection to some struggling residents which according to some experts is now fuelling a council tax recovery crisis in the borough, as households struggle to keep paying vastly inflated bills they simply cannot afford.
At the time of the publication of this report, Hartlepool Matters understands the council is currently owed around Three Million Pounds worth of unpaid council tax owed to the borough from homes struggling to pay, with it being claimed that a portion of that amount outstanding could be set to be written off by the local council, as many homes fall into insolvency, leading to the amounts becoming unrecoverable in the eyes of the law.
Locals are said not to be convinced over the state f the councils finances, instead blaming "poor management" of the councils finances by its Chief Finance Officer Chris Little.
Locals in the town that has a population of around 93,000 inhabitants are now said to be growing increasingly tired of the repeated claims by the council as to Hartlepool Borough Council is having to continually cut back on local services, with it being said that the councils now rapidly running out of excuses when it comes to the claims being made to the public as to why council taxes in the area are having to go up so sharply that its now crippling the expenditure of even the towns most modest income households, with many now starting to openly question the councils ability to successfully manage the finances of the stricken authority that’s poised to increase council taxes again this coming April in a desperate bid to plug millions of pounds worth of deficits caused by sharply rising inflation & interest rates for borrowing taken out by the local council on a number of capital expenditure projects, some of which havent even gotten off the ground in terms of construction.
The councils funded a number of projects through reckless borrowing, some of which havent even got off the drawing board ....
Theres claims the towns proposed multi Million pound leisure centre set to begin construction in March 2023, could be knocked back again due to inflationary pressures.
Hartlepool Councils poised to try & cover with a blanket its huge deficits by using whats left of its remaining financial reserves in a bid to defer its massive financial deficits caused by over-borrowing over to the next financial years, however some experts believe that Hartlepool Councils bid to undertake such a move is seemingly “reckless”, & risks placing further pressure on already strained council services that’s likely to only increase the prospect of the council potentially being left calling in government commissioners when the authority slides into whats known as a section 114, but likely to see the public all having to shoulder the cost of the councils inevitable demise as it becomes seemingly clear that a decade down the line, & the local councils learned absolutely nothing about responsible money management, with the council trying to borrow itself out of one crisis, only to find its then produced yet another more serious problem at the end of it.
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