No Plans for Voluntary Council Tax Scheme in Guildford

Published on: 16 Sep, 2024
Updated on: 17 Sep, 2024

By Martin Giles

The lead councillor for Finance and Property at Guildford Borough Council, Richard Lucas, has told The Dragon NEWS that despite their collaboration with Waverley Borough Council there are no plans to emulate their neighbours by asking those in Guildford’s most expensive houses, rated Band H, to voluntarily make extra contributions to the Council.

See: Waverley Council to Ask for Voluntary Council Tax Contributions

Cllr Richard Lucas

Cllr Lucas said: “Currently, there are no plans to implement a Voluntary Council Tax scheme for Guildford Borough. If we decide to do so, any proposal will need to be approved by full council.”

The leader of the opposition at GBC Philip Brooker (Con, Worplesdon) said his Conservative group would not be in favour of any such proposal if it did emerge.

He said: “Conservatives take the view that the individual spends their own money in the most cost efficient way and on enterprises that they personally support.

Conservative group leader Philip Brooker

“Many of those residents with band H properties are asset rich and cash poor, thus any initiative to encourage voluntary payments into what will inevitably be seen as another ‘bottomless pit’ council scheme is likely to put them under undue pressure and may prove counter-productive. This would be best left to the charitable sector.”

The Labour group was also against the idea but for different reasons.

A spokesperson said: “A voluntary donation scheme, only limited to the highest band of council tax, while well-meaning, is a symptom of local government struggling to keep the lights on as more responsibility and outgoing costs are thrust upon them.

“The new government now can take steps to reduce the pressure on councils to cut services and infrastructure without depending on the grace of taxpayers.

“A review of council tax bands, which allows for those with properties of higher earners to be taxed on principle rather than benevolence, is the way forward.

“Given that current council tax bands are approaching twenty-five years of age, a review would allow councils to fund the necessary fixes to infrastructure, while also letting communities flourish with new projects such as playgrounds, events spaces and parklands.”

Residents for Guildford & Villages (R4GV) and the Guildford Greenbelt Group (GGG) were also invited to comment.

Responses to No Plans for Voluntary Council Tax Scheme in Guildford

Mark Stamp Reply

September 17, 2024 at 3:19 pm

Council tax and the entire local government funding arrangements certainly need reforming; the financial struggles of councils of all colours are well documented.

Cllr Brooker notes that residents of large houses are asset rich and relatively cash poor. One reason for this is that there are many couples who are recently retired but still active living in large four or five bedroom homes after their children have left home.

These could be better utilised instead of needing to build more homes. Currently there is no incentive to do this as the savings on council tax are not offset by the stamp duty and other costs of moving.