Sponsored by
Who will apologise over tax?
TWO councils are each calling for the other to apologise in a row over council tax rises.
New Mills Town Council Chairman Alistair Stevens in his annual report claimed their precept rise had wrongly been put at 2.4 per cent by High Peak Borough Council on literature sent to households across the borough.
He said: "This is quite simply not true, our increase is actually 1.9%. I hope and trust this 'reporting' error is no more than that.
"I frankly have my doubts, especially as there has been no effort to correct this mistake either in the press or with any other literature sent by the Borough. A written apology was the very least we should have received."
He also blamed delays in the transfer of Sett Valley House to the Union Road doctors who will be building a brand new surgery on the site, firmly at the door of HPBC.
"Bureaucracy at the Borough Council has held this up which unfortunately will mean Town Council funds will have to be used to pay council tax, utility bills and insurance for the site."
However Councillor Tony Ashton, Leader of HPBC, said information on council tax was produced in accordance with government guidance and correctly stated the increase in the council tax for New Mills Town Council for 2009/2010 as 2.4% as in 2008/2009 it was 61.01 and for 2009/2010 was 62.45 - an increase of 2.36% or 2.4% when rounded to one decimal place.
"The Town Council had not queried the figures with the Borough before Councillor Stevens made his misguided comments. There is no need for a correction and any apology should be from Councillor Stevens to the Borough, in particular for his insinuation that the Council might deliberately publish incorrect or misleading information.
"A letter is on its way to Councillor Stevens formally requesting a public retraction and apology.
He added: "The transfer of Sett Valley House involves both the transfer of the property to the Town Council and an easement over High Peak Borough Council land for access. Resolving both these issues is clearly in everybody's interests. The Council strongly refutes Councillor Stevens's statement that any hold-ups are due to bureaucracy on the Council's part."
Cllr Ashton said HPBC wanted positive relationships with parish and town councils and despite their own budget pressures had maintained an above-inflation grant increase to parish councils to progressively remove the effects of 'double-rating' (where there are parish and borough councils) on residents.
"We are disappointed by the comments made in Councillor Stevens's report and hope this does not hinder our aspiration of developing strong working relationships in New Mills."
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Buxton
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -3 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light sleet
Temperature: 1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
