Government underfunding again threatens large Council Tax riseIn a continuation of the trend that siphons off money from the south and pumps it to the north, which really took off last year with the then-new hugely-gerrymandered Formula Spending Share government funding scheme, Medway is to suffer another year with a shortfall of several million pounds.
As for the current year, education is to be underfunded next year, using the present level as a base for next year. We already had to take some £3·6 million from the Council's already rather depleted reserves in order to maintain education in Medway at its current level, but this will no longer be possible.
Last year the underfunding amounted to some £13 million in total, and it looks as though this year will be similar. The feeling is that, for the first time in years, Council Tax will have to rise by more than 10% so that our all-important services can be maintained fully.
Frankly, this is obviously nowhere near good enough. We plan to send a delegation to face the Minister concerned (Nick Raynsford MP) in the hope that an improvement can be secured. Such moves in the past have had mixed responses, so this is worth trying although no-one here will be surprised if nothing changes...
Over the next three months, the Council will be preparing and setting its budgets for next year, along with the levels of Council Tax for 2004–2005. We shall as always do all that we can to keep costs down (and we have had considerable success during the past three years!) but be prepared for a higher than usual Council Tax rise—it might have to be.
Even so, do also be aware that there have now been some 64 "stealth taxes" introduced by the Labour government since 1997, and national taxes are now much higher than they were six years ago. Any rise in Council Tax almost pales into insignifiance beside the extra money that just about everyone is now pouring into the Treasury.