6 April - Bexley; a high tax borough
The
annual update of the London Borough Council Tax league table has been left to
the very last moment because some Councils are very slow to put the figures on
their websites. Even so we have Camden labelling what is obviously the 2018/19
figure as 2017/18 and Islington not showing their 2018 figures at all. That is because
the link to this year’s figures (not last year’s which is still there) goes to a beta version of
their website which has been off air all day, maybe longer.
The big losers this year are the residents of Greenwich which falls from 10th
position to 21st. The winner is Labour controlled Merton which is up from 21st
to 15th place. Apart from those two there is little change, just the odd single
position climb or fall.
Among those is Bexley which has taken the tumble it so narrowly avoided
last year.
In the 2014 election and the one due next month Bexley Conservatives have banged
the low tax drum. Like most of what they say it is simply not true.
They like to remind everyone that Labour’s spell in office led to a 40% tax rise
in four years and imply it will happen again if they are elected. On the other hand the Tories keep
Tweeting that over the past four years Labour Councillors have always voted
against increasing budgets. Lies always lead to contradictions.
However the fact remains that Labour’s last budget dropped Bexley from 20th to
24th position in the London tax league table. Not good.
But despite all the service cuts introduced since, the selling off of so many assets
from public toilets to town halls and parks, recruiting volunteers to run libraries and
taking money from private industry whenever it can, Bexley Council under
Conservative control never managed to improve on that 24th position. It was just
stuck; until this year that is.
In 2018 Bexley held its share of the Council Tax increase to 3·99%, but similarly
rated Councils did better. As a result Bexley has sunk to 25th position. The
worst ever and a worse placing than
that achieved by the Labour Group the
Tories are so keen to criticise.
That’s the way to do it!