And whatever happened to the 40 pence a week idea?

Whatever happened to increasing council tax by 40 45 pence a week? Something else that got lost in the rush to nick the New Homes Bonus.

At the beginning of the Medium Term Plan the Conservative run HDC was ever hopeful they could get this through. Eric Pickles, knowing how Councils work, stopped this in its tracks by saying he would cap any Council Tax rise. Back then HDC went through the argument that the 40 pence  a week rise was for Band C as this was representative of the council tax base. I argued differently, that using the 40 pence at Band C was dishonest and it should have been 45 pence as this is how Council Tax was calculated.

So how was the Council Tax calculated in 2011/12 budget? Was it on Band C? Of course not. The 40 pence at Band C was meant to hoodwink the council taxpayers into thinking the rise would be less. HDC couldn't be honest and talk about 45 pence.

When HDC informs you of something read it very carefully.