Tax bombshell from Council Tax revaluation warns Forrest 10/02/04

Peter Forrest, Conservative GLA Candidate for Enfield-Haringey cautioned today that local council tax bills could soar yet further under Government plans to introduce new council tax bands and revalue all properties for council tax billing purposes. Council Tax payers are already reeling from Government-inflicted near 30% increases in Council Tax in the last 2 years (2003-05).

The threat comes as the Local Government Association on 15 January lobbied the Government to consider introducing higher council tax bands: in addition, the Labour administration in Wales has recently published its detailed proposals for a council tax revaluation and new bands. The laws allowing a similar change in England were passed in September, and the revaluation process across England will start next year.

Yet new research by Conservatives has analysed the new system introduced in Wales in depth and estimated the effect if John Prescott introduced the same system in England as in Wales. The analysis shows that in Enfield-Haringey, it would mean:

·      A property currently valued at £60,000 would see its council tax band rise from A to B, meaning a rise a rise of 17%  a year in council tax currently

·      A property valued at £100,000 would see its council tax band rise from C to D, meaning a rise of 12 per cent

·      A property valued at £200,000 would see its tax band rise from E to F, meaning a rise of 18%.

·      A property valued at £500,000 would see its tax band rise from G to a new Band ‘I’, meaning a massive hike of 40 per cent.

Peter Forrest explained:

“Across the country, council tax has soared by three times the rate of inflation every year since Labour came to power. And by nearly 30% in the last 2 years (2003-05) alone. But worse could be to come.

From next year, the Labour Government, with Liberal Democrat support, is starting a council tax revaluation and the imposition of new bands. If they follow the example of the tax-and-spend Labour administration in Wales, council tax bills are going to go through the roof across Enfield-Haringey.

This has all the making of a classic stealth tax – engineered by central government but with local councillors taking the blame.”