Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

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Friday December 30, 2016 More bad news for council tax payers.

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Large town/parish councils will NOT see their precept capped.

Town and parish councils are still able to set their own precepts (local tax) following a recent government announcement.

The government had proposed that they should hold a referendum if they wanted to increase precepts by more than 2%.  The secretary of state for communities and local government made the announcement last week in the House of Commons.

The Tories and Lib Dems at County Hall, together with the Lib Dem led Trowbridge Town Council (TTC), were against any capping claiming that people would not mind seeing huge hikes in their council tax.

The fact that TTC is planning a huge hike over the next five years (assuming that the Lib Dems retain control in the election next May) was reliant on the government backtracking on their proposal.

Whilst local councils will undoubtedly have to take on more services from Wiltshire Council over the coming years, there must be other (and better) ways to fund these new services than simply whacking the council tax up at a ridiculous rate.