Council Tax Reform

Many people seem "rightly" concerned about the current Council Tax system in the UK and that it is worthy of wholsale reform. Currently, it is based on the value of the property that is occupied rather than the owner's income and therefore ability to pay. These are going to be revalued after the election and seem likely to increase.

The overiding problem is how council services should be funded. Should they be funded by the user, the local population or the overall taxpaying population? The Liberal Democrats and Isitfair take the view that a local income tax should be adopted as a fairer way to raise local council tax. That might seem reasonable but then this too becomes unfair, those earning higher incomes already pay taxes at higher rates and automatically disqualify themselves from any means tested benefits. If individuals are not earning a substantial income themselves, it then becomes very easy for them to demand more council services as only other people have to pay for them. What will ever prevent this from escalating? Individuals paying high local council taxes will always be outvoted by the people they are subsidising. The only surefire way would be to restrict local council elections to those paying the local income tax possibly on a weighted basis.