The First Minister’s government is consulting with councils on potentially hiking up council tax by almost a quarter as he continues to preside over a high-taxed Scotland, while cutting services such as school transport provision and grass cutting in public spaces
By Bill Heaney
It is being projected that councils such as West Dunbartonshire could hike up council tax by 22.5 per cent for their wealthiest residents as part of a desperate bid to boost town hall finances.
The potential scandal has been described as Humza Yousaf’s “Liz Truss” moment.
Former PM Liz Truss and Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf.
Chronic under-funding by the SNP government has been blamed for the proposals which would see rises in over one in four properties across the country. The Scottish Government and council chiefs are discussing this “brutal” plan.
The Scottish Daily Express says this is the latest “eye-watering” tax suggestion being bandied about by Mr Yousaf’s administration as they seek ways to combat a potential billion pound budget black hole.
Local authorities such as West Dunbartonshire are also suffering from financial issues with cuts to leisure services and other important services being planned. They have already cut back on recycling and the bin collection service appears to be operating in a state of chaos while the rescheduling of collections days and times is implemented.
A tourist tax is about to be introduced, meaning visitors to Loch Lomondside and other parts of the West Highlands including Helensburgh and Oban could be charged extra cash every night.
The Express states that middle-class Scots suffered a significant tax hike in April, increasingly growing the tax divide between Scotland and England even more.
The newspaper also speculates that Mr Yousaf is considering creating another income tax rate for earnings between £75,000 and £125,140 to raise extra revenue, which would be utilised by the government to help them pay for their benefits system.
The Daily Record reports that a leaked paper by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) revealed the discussions of a joint group chaired by Ministers and council figures on tax reform. They are looking at technical changes to the calculations behind council tax which led to big rises for people in Band E, F, G and H properties in 2017.
It states: “Repeating the 2017 changes would mean Council Tax would increase by 7.5%, 12.5%, 17.5% and 22.5% for properties valuation bands E, F, G and H respectively if council tax rates remained unchanged.
“The average increases, at 2023-24 council tax rates, would be around £127, £281, £464 and £741 per dwelling in these bands respectively.”
In 2021, there were 349,550 dwellings in Band E, 207,107 in F, 133,223 in G and 13,861 in H, meaning thousands of people will be forced to pay a huge increased rate.
The paper continues: “Changing multipliers is a quick means to shift the burden of Council Tax toward those who can afford to pay their fair share.
Scrap the Council Tax and introduce a Scottish Service Tax based on the ability to pay, to make sure the wealthy pay their fair share.
No chance of that Jim Bolan with a neo conservative SNP every bit as right wing as Liz Truss and the rest of the Tories.
And Humza, well he’s just the colonial administrator. Westminster’s man in Scotland.