Dear Sir,
In response to Michael Stead’s article in last week’s Newton News, ‘Passion for Every Penny’, I feel that the Lib/Dems on Great Aycliffe Town Council have lost the plot.
This article only tells half the story, the facts are: The parish precept is a part of the Council Tax, which, in this case, is the Parish Councils share of the council tax, ie: Great Aycliffe Town Council. The precept demand goes to the billing authority, Durham County Council which collects the tax for the Parish Council. The ‘Precept’ is converted into an amount per Council Tax Band that is added onto the Council Tax Bill. Adding up the total expenditure to meet their spending requirements, the amount calculated on Band D properties to work out calculated for a Band A property equals the Band D charge and multiply by 6 and divide by 9.
The question people have to ask is, if you wish to make a reduction then you need to ask what are you going to cut, the fireworks display, Santa tours or one of the many other services the Town Council provide like parks and leisure, football pitches, need I go on?
I would suggest that Michael Stead looks at DCC as the big tax payers. In conclusion, Great Aycliffe Town Council are not the highest council tax in the County, many more are, I think the Lib/Dems need training on local government finance, before they make wild assumptions.
Vince Crosby