Afraid so…. The Teignbridge Tories are on the point of sticking up Council Tax for next year by a massive 23% for Band D. And the percentage increase is higher, of course, for those on lower Council Tax bands.

And at the same time, they will tell you – without a hint of shame – that they have kept your Council Tax at the same level as last year.

How do they think they can get away with this? Well, the quickness of the hand decives the eye – and not everything is quite as it seems.

For years, the collection of garden waste was covered by what we all paid in Council Tax. The jolly wheeze that the Inner Circle of controlling Conservative councillors has come up with is to decide that from now on, the collection of garden waste is not to be covered out of general taxation, but is to be covered by a special charge of thirty five pounds per household.

So the total bill that people pay to Teignbridge Council goes up by thirty five pounds a year, regardless of the size of their property. But the amount everybody pays under the heading of “Council Tax” apparently remains the same. Like the infamous Poll Tax, this Garden Tax is exactly the same for rich and poor, for those with large properties and those with smaller ones. Like the Poll Tax, this is a thoroughly bad idea.

Are people going to be taken in by this Con Trick? Undoubtedly, they hope so.

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