LEGITIMATE questions will be raised by some Solihull council taxpayers about the staggering 18 per cent average rise in the portion of their bills going to West Midlands Police from April.
Certainly, this rise for band D properties is not being matched by increased policing. Quite the opposite – so what exactly are people paying extra for?
The government has for years restricted councils from raising their portion of council tax bills above five per cent.
Labour Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson claims there’s support for such an eye-watering rise, given dramatic government funding cuts since 2010 and the need to tackle rising crime.
Perhaps, but the pattern of annual above-inflation council tax rises for cut-back services is surely becoming unsustainable.
