Bridgwater's poorest to be landed with first tax bill

7:00am Tuesday 7th August 2012 in News

Bridgwater's poorest to be landed with first tax bill Bridgwater's poorest to be landed with first tax bill

SOME of Bridgwater's poorest households may have to start paying hundreds of pounds in council tax for the first time next year.

Government cutbacks mean Sedgemoor District Council has to find more than £1million of savings for a new local council tax benefits scheme, coming into force next April.

A report for last Wednesday's council executive meeting said: “The only realistic way to achieve such a significant reduction in benefits expenditure, is to share the impact across all 5,315 working age customers.”

The key change will mean that every potential council tax payer - even those on very low incomes or receiving certain benefits, who presently pay no council tax at all - will be forced to pay at least 20% of their total council tax bill.

For an average Band D property, that could be £258 a year; for the cheapest Band A properties, it could be £193.

Only pensioners will be excluded from the changes. Making all council tax payers pay at least 20% of their bill could make up £960,000 of the council's £1,050,000 of required savings.

The report for last week's executive meeting also said a £50,000 'exceptional hardship fund' could be set aside for emergency cases.

Sedgemoor District Council leader Duncan McGinty said: “The Government has cut our budget by about 12% and those savings have to come from somewhere. It's not an ideal situation.

"There are going to be an awful lot of people who are going to have to pay money who have never paid it before.

“We are going to consultation to find the most appropriate way to make these changes. It's not something that anybody locally is happy about.”

You can take part in the consultation by clicking here

Comments(23)

awayswing says...
9:03am Tue 7 Aug 12

Picking on the weak and the vulnerable as usual.

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rich1973 says...
10:15am Tue 7 Aug 12

Leave the weak etc alone but target the lazy sods who don't want to work but like the handouts

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andelain says...
10:56am Tue 7 Aug 12

Its about time they started investigating those who are co-habiting and claiming they are single parents. I could name a few....

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frags27 says...
1:36pm Tue 7 Aug 12

The sick and weak who really are sick have my full support and good to see pensioners are ok. How lucky the majority of you have been to not have to pay Council Tax up until now. You may need to look for a better job, or harder for a job if you do not have one, or take on extra work but that is no different than the majority of us working people who have been paying full whack council tax for many years

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BraveSirLancelot says...
3:58pm Tue 7 Aug 12

andelain wrote:
Its about time they started investigating those who are co-habiting and claiming they are single parents. I could name a few....
SDC do investigate these cases if people report them, here's the link on how to report a suspected fraud to them http://www.sedgemoor
.gov.uk/index.aspx?a
rticleid=5731

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Hombre says...
4:43pm Tue 7 Aug 12

£258 or £193 is cheaper than a lot of mobile phone contracts.
I wonder how many would forego their mobile phones to pay council tax?

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sheldoncooper says...
5:18pm Tue 7 Aug 12

Hombre wrote:
£258 or £193 is cheaper than a lot of mobile phone contracts.
I wonder how many would forego their mobile phones to pay council tax?
Or Sky for that matter :)

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bts73 says...
8:18pm Tue 7 Aug 12

when i was at school we read books that told us in the future we would all only have to work one day a week we'd all live in huge walking skyscrapers ... so why am i working six days a week ?!

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sheldoncooper says...
8:51pm Tue 7 Aug 12

bts73 wrote:
when i was at school we read books that told us in the future we would all only have to work one day a week we'd all live in huge walking skyscrapers ... so why am i working six days a week ?!
Only 6 days a week.......layabout.
..LOL

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Boring says...
10:05pm Tue 7 Aug 12

BraveSirLancelot wrote:
andelain wrote:
Its about time they started investigating those who are co-habiting and claiming they are single parents. I could name a few....
SDC do investigate these cases if people report them, here's the link on how to report a suspected fraud to them http://www.sedgemoor

.gov.uk/index.aspx?a

rticleid=5731
The thread started off with someone rightly saying that the weak and vulnerable are getting targeted.

Then we get the same self righteous people on here who come out with there usual rubbish.
According to them, everyone who is out of work or struggling,has Sky Tv, mobile phones and no doubt a holiday home in Barbados.
Whats the matter with some of you?
You may be well off, a lot of others aren't, get used to it, there's more to come.
Anyway, let's see if any of you actually have any evidence to back up your accusations on here.
You can now fill the "grass" form out. I bet none of you have the bottle!

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Bridgy old Boy says...
10:33pm Tue 7 Aug 12

The real villains are the super rich and multi nationals who use highly paid accountants to avoid or even evade paying taxes. It is these individuals that should be targeted not the weakest in society. All the tabloid sympathy this morning going out to Gary Barlow a bloke who uses some sort of off shore tax dodge to avoid paying the amount of tax you and I would be expected to pay.

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sceptic_steve says...
11:08pm Tue 7 Aug 12

Boring has an attitude typical of those who cheat the benefit system.

There viewpoint is anyone who reports someone who is abusing and cheating the good will and nature of the benefits system is a 'grass'.

Attitudes like this are the reason the country is in the mess it is in, people with such attitudes should be both embarrassed and ashamed of themselves.

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rich1973 says...
11:51pm Tue 7 Aug 12

Boring is as usual plain boring prob a work shy lay about

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sceptic_steve says...
2:33am Wed 8 Aug 12

bts73 wrote:
when i was at school we read books that told us in the future we would all only have to work one day a week we'd all live in huge walking skyscrapers ... so why am i working six days a week ?!
Obviously written in Greek ;)

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sceptic_steve says...
2:33am Wed 8 Aug 12

bts73 wrote:
when i was at school we read books that told us in the future we would all only have to work one day a week we'd all live in huge walking skyscrapers ... so why am i working six days a week ?!
Obviously written in Greek ;)

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BaldyLocks says...
8:57am Wed 8 Aug 12

bts73 wrote:
when i was at school we read books that told us in the future we would all only have to work one day a week we'd all live in huge walking skyscrapers ... so why am i working six days a week ?!
Perhaps if you tried harder and had a better job you wouldn't have to work 6 days a week.

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Dr. Lewis Beltgun says...
2:02pm Thu 9 Aug 12

Jolly good show and about time!! Get the millions of lazy single mums foreign criminals and disability cheats off their backsides and into jobs for once!!! Work them til they drop that's the ticket!!!! Worked since I was 12 and it never did me any harm!!!!!

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sheldoncooper says...
2:39pm Thu 9 Aug 12

Dr. Lewis Beltgun wrote:
Jolly good show and about time!! Get the millions of lazy single mums foreign criminals and disability cheats off their backsides and into jobs for once!!! Work them til they drop that's the ticket!!!! Worked since I was 12 and it never did me any harm!!!!!
Hope you've got your tin helmet at the ready :)

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MINIME2 says...
2:44pm Thu 9 Aug 12

My son has a wife and 3 children he works for £ 150.00 per week yes they claim child tax credit but he is WORKING
for a pittance not a lazy sit about.How many of you commenting on here would work for that amount each week ?

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sceptic_steve says...
4:07pm Thu 9 Aug 12

Personally I wouldn't work full time for a company for £150.00 because it would be against the law as I am over 21.

As someone who has spent much of the last 15 years self employed, I can say there have been many periods where I am not only working for less than £150 a week, but indeed losing money and stock way in excess of this just to cover costs.

It hurts but is a required sacrifice sometimes if you wish to build something worthwhile and achieve.

I would always advise people to look to improve themselves and never settle for second best. Too many of society just seem to complain about there life, yet are prepared to do nothing about it to raise its quality. If you are on a minimum wage and have a family then this should be used as a stepping stone to better yourself.

Nothing is out there to stop people improving, except for their own lack of ambition and passion.

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frags27 says...
9:09pm Thu 9 Aug 12

MINIME2 your son should be congratulated for at least trying to support his family. I don't agree with working tax credits as it is abused and many choose to work less hours so they don't lose payment and know how to work the system to their advantage especially where children are concerned. I am not saying this is what your family is doing, just my own opinion concerning work tax credits and people i know who are on it. There are many who would choose to not bother for this amount of money a week, however I also agree with Sceptic Steve. My partner is also Self employed and in the winter and rainy weather earns nothing per day as his job is outdoors and depends on the weather. We just have to accept this as a downside to being self employed. He does however work flat out in the summer working 12 - 13 hour days, and Saturday even Sunday, he gets no handouts and neither do I as I work full time as well 39+ hours a week. My point is this, a job is better than no job, look around for a better job whilst you are employed there is no rule that says you have to stay on £150 a week it is up to you to make the effort to chase what jobs there are even if it means travelling further afield each day. Training is another option that is often overlooked when trying to improve your situation it doesn't have to cost a lot, many good courses online for cheaper than you think, the internet is full of resources and even your local library. You may have to cut back in other areas, but in the long run it is down to yourself to improve things for your children it is after all your decision to have children and you must do whatever it takes to support them as a responsible parent and teach them that a good education gives them a better option to have a higher paid job. There may be little opportunity around and less in the future but without education and a role model the last thing you want is for your family to also be in a low paid job when they grow up.

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BaldCarl2 says...
1:18am Fri 10 Aug 12

About time too.
The poor only waste their money on Sky TV subscriptions, body/face piercings and tattoos etc.

The less money they have the less incentive they have to breed.

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Boring says...
10:18pm Sun 12 Aug 12

rich1973 wrote:
Boring is as usual plain boring prob a work shy lay about
Good try Rich boy, wrong as usual though,put your smock back on and get back on your tractor sunshine.
As for your mate sceptic, your just depriving a village of an idiot.
Get back in your cave fella.
Small minds in a small town!

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