Residents of Birmingham will see significant increases in council taxes along with reduced services as the “bankrupt” town hall joins a growing number of local governments in their financial crunch.
City councillors are set to vote on a ‘devastating’ package that would see taxes rise nearly 10 percent in each of the next two years—around 21 percent in total—equivalent to roughly £340 extra on a typical Band D property.
Given that prices for police and fire services are also rising, the overall increase may be substantially larger.
In an attempt to save £300 million, rubbish collections would now happen every two weeks, street lights would be turned down, and road maintenance budgets would be slashed.
The Labour-run local authority issued two ‘section 114’ orders last year—effectively an admission it had gone bust.
The meeting today comes after another stricken Labour-run authority, Nottingham City Council, approved its own cuts last night.
During a heated discussion, some council members broke down in tears as they decided to cut back on youth, social services, and jobs. Public restroom fees and the elimination of in-home pest control services have sparked concerns that they may exacerbate rat infestations. The maximum increase in council tax permitted by the government will occur at the same time, at 4.99 percent.
A swath of other town halls are warning they will also have to reduce costs, raising concerns that the crisis is still spreading.
Birmingham City Council leader John Cotton has said it has ‘no alternative than to face these challenges head-on’ – but residents say they have been left with a ‘horrible’ situation, fears of more crime, a rise in fly-tipping, and growing numbers of potholes.
Council officials have been finding it difficult to deal with the £815 million equal pay settlement, the possibility of a walkout by GMB-affiliated employees, and the requirement to liquidate assets in order to pay back government bailouts.
Dimming street lights to save £900,000, cutting £12 million from highway maintenance, and switching to biweekly trash pickups to save £4 million annually are some of the suggested steps.
The changes might result in the loss of employment for up to 600 municipal employees, and residents will also be responsible for additional expenses such as burial fees for their deceased.
In the upcoming fiscal year, adult social care will also see cuts of £23.7 million, and crisis payments—which are necessary to pay for necessities like food, gas, and appliances—will be discontinued.
Once more, the people who pay taxes and work hard will be the ones responsible for paying the outrageous expenses incurred by incompetent local council members.
You get what you vote for, and all those who are on six-figure salaries won’t care.
Too many people refuse to become part of our society and instead accept freebies from our government. I promise that immigration will bankrupt our nation, but we are handing our nation away on a silver platter because we are willing to put up with all of this crap without resistance.
Diversity and multiculturalism are constantly funded by money, yet vital services are neglected.
Thousands of illegal immigrants have crossed the sea this year, and it’s only March. We should get the forensic accountants in to see where all our money is going.
Politicians have no concern for the general public, but they do want to suck the life out of hard-working taxpayers, and to all the people who believed that Brexit would help, you were conned. You were lied to. Immigration has not decreased, there is no stopping the boats from coming over, and there’s no NHS funding. Lies, all lies.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 