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Finance |
Cllr David Burbage and Cllr David Hilton
meet Cllr Maurice Heaster of
Wandsworth Borough Council
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Cllr. David Hilton, Conservative spokesman on Finance said, "In April your Council Tax is rising by another 3.8%, taking the increases forced through by the Liberal Democrats since 2004 to nearly 25%. When you take into account the £50 million debt that the Council has built up, you have a dire situation. The mismanagement of the Council's finances by the Libdems has been truly shocking."
Cllr. Hilton went on to say, "Recently Cllr Burbage and I visited Wandsworth Council, which at £355 has the lowest Council Tax in the Country. We gained an understanding of the processes Wandsworth use to drive Council Tax down and maintain it at this remarkably low level. If elected May, we Conservatives will use the same financial management that will release resources to improve services and constrain future Council Tax increases."
However, the Liberal Democrats' stated intention for future Council Tax :
"it is important that Council Tax is used to generate the maximum amount of income possible" (our emphasis)
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"It is, therefore, the Borough's Strategy to calculate future Council Tax increases to be marginally below the anticipated capping limit"
We Will :
We will aim to limit Council Tax rises, at or below the rate of inflation, without cutting services
Reinforce a strong "Residents First" focus for all council staff
Fight red tape and bureaucracy at all levels
Conduct detailed service reviews to find waste and inefficiency in the system
Seek to work with other councils and organisations to provide higher quality services for a better price
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