TORY BUDGET FOLLOWS LABOUR LEADToday the Tories on Kent County Council announced that they are proposing a council tax increase of 3.9% in line with the increases in state pensions and benefits. This is in marked contrast to the previous year when the Tories came out with a council tax increase of 4.95%. Then the Labour Opposition moved a set of amendments to bring the council tax down to 3.6% in line with the pension and benefit increase that year. Last year, the Tories condemned Labour's amendments as "totally unacceptable and impractical".Derek Smyth, Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, says:"Kent County Council has been generously funded since Labour came to power with above consumer price inflation increases year after year. As a consequence, the financial position of Kent County Council has become more secure and not even the Tories can avoid a council tax increase in line with state pensions and benefits. It was possible last year. We are glad that the Tories have finally recognised the force of our arguments and, somewhat late in the day, responded accordingly.There is, however, a potential sting in the tail. Mr Carter, the current Leader of Kent County Council, writing in his preface to the Budget, stated that if the cost of funding the Asylum Service is not fully met by the Government, "this will have an impact on the rate of council tax."Dr Eddy, Labour Shadow Leader of Kent County Council, says:"Negotiations regarding the reimbursement of asylum seeker costs are currently under way with the Government. No Government of whatever political complexion can hand out taxpayers' money willy nilly. The claims must be properly authenticated. Issuing implied threats that council tax will rise if this Government does not pay up within a limited timeframe is tantamount to saying that we do not want the claims settled and that we positively want council tax payers to foot the bill. This is perverse in the extreme and putting party politics before the true interests of Kent council tax payers."
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