City Council Tax - letter to Oxford Mail

9.15.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 14th Jun 2006

Collecting Council Tax is a tough job, and probably not the most popular one among this city's residents. Partly, this is because Council Tax is a grossly unfair tax, unrelated to ability to pay. This is why the national Liberal Democrats are committed to scrapping Council Tax, and replacing it with a fairer system.

It is also because residents agree with the recent judgment of the independent District Auditor on the performance of the City Council: that its "value for money is poor, with considerable room for improvement." This is why the new Liberal Democrat administration is committed to keeping Council Tax increases to an absolute minimum. We believe the City Council should offer decent services to residents at a reasonable cost.

Paying any tax is never popular - yet we all know that it is vital if the services on which we as residents rely are to be paid for. It is also vital that everyone in Oxford who is eligible to pay Council Tax (and there are exemptions for those on low incomes) pays their fair share.

Unfortunately, the old Labour City Council failed to manage this basic function. In 2004-05, less than 95% of Council Tax was collected - the third worst performance of any council in the country. This is bad news for the honest folk who manage to pay on time, as it means they end up subsidising the 5% who defer paying, or who don't pay at all.

This is unacceptable. The Lib Dems are committed to improving the Council's performance so that Council Tax collection gets better. This will require a lot of hard work from all those involved, but the Council owes it to Oxford's residents to succeed. Failure is not an

option.

Yours faithfully,

Cllr Stephen Tall

Lib Dem portfolio holder for Better Finances

Oxford City Council