PEOPLE POWER - Council Vow To Refund The Loan Element Of Council Tax
21st March 2018
| By Peter Chapman
Burgess Hill Town Council have announced that they will return the extra money raised from the council tax this year after a £5 million loan (worth £9.5 million) will no longer be applied for.
The announcement is a u-turn from what was said at the town council meeting on Monday January 29th. The council stated that if the loan was not required, then the extra money raised that year (around £90k) could be spent around the town on other projects to be identified by the council.
What caused this change of mind? People Power!
There's been so much anger across the internet about the council jumping the gun and raising the council tax without knowing the result of the loan consutlation that it meant there was no way it would wash if BHTC kept hold of the cash.
In an astounding show of scrutiny, 21 members of the public attended Monday evening's council meeting. They put questions to the council about this exact issue. There's only been two of us at the meetings in recent months, it was great to see.
It's quite simple, the more you show that you are keeping an eye on the council's activities and actively hold them to account at these meetings, then the council will have to keep doing the right thing.
Chalk one up for the little guy!
| Spread the word! The council will refund the unrequired additional council tax back to the public
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Are you happy that Burgess Hill Town Council will be refunding the loan element of the council tax back to the public?
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