Mr. editor

Following the story published on January 6, 2022 regarding the excess of £ 4million in council tax, the two letters subsequently published appear to have missed the point.

Read: Letters: Bedford Borough Council should reimburse everyone

Read: Mail: Stop overcharging those who actually PAY their housing tax

The Council has not overcharged anyone, the original article indicated a drop in unemployment and fewer people claiming tax assistance from the Council in 2021-2022 resulted in a surplus, which is good news to hear.

In response to the first letter, it would cost a lot of money to reimburse each resident, Council would have to write to them for banking information etc. which would be very resource intensive and impractical.

In my opinion, it is much more important that this money be given to the council (and to the fire and police service according to the article) to be used for services across the borough.

In response to the second letter, the Council has not overcharged anyone, it needs to budget for Council tax support (and all other services) and as stated in the original article, falling unemployment means that not as much money as expected has been spent to support people who for some reason cannot afford to pay their council tax in 2021-2022.

No one aspires to anyone else, there are a lot of people in need who deserve to be helped with their council tax, including a lot of people working full time for minimum wage who don’t have can’t afford to pay all their bills.

I urge anyone who is struggling to pay their council tax to contact the Council to see if they qualify for council tax assistance.

Simon bayliss
Goldington
Bedford

The letters published reflect the views of the author, not of Bedford Independent.
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