Am I the fool?

[greenknight]

So I have a dilemma.

I know that soon the election will be over my vote cast, for richer....no probably poorer though for some there will be hard times for sure.

Now I'm thinking that my Council Tax will rise and my hard earned cash will be placed into the Bank of Herefordshire for local politicians to break down and carve out into tiny little pieces though this will be no fishes and loaves scenario.Not everyone going to get a bit not even a morsel but I will have no control on who gets what.

What if there was an option to part with just a little more but on the proviso that you named that organisation or group who you felt were most in need. I'd want it ringfenced oh yes bigger than the bloody Berlin Wall,perhaps two fences after all Steve McQueen got over one!

You see Mrs Knight and I are not wealthy far from it! We don't expect a significant pension and inheritance is for the fortunate. We do expect to work on in some form or the other well past 65. However we are happy..content in our Castle Bungalow and mini wheels outside.

If I could choose three pots I would part with another £50 a year. A noble idea or am I the fool?

[Denise Lloyd]

A very noble idea but I would only part willingly with some cash if the very highly paid council officials were thinned out and the whole setup was audited and brought back into line.  I read somewhere but can't remember where just how much of my Council Tax is going towards the Council pension fund.  Now I don't begrudge people getting paid well if in my mind they actually earn it.  Judging on recent performances I am sorry I do not feel the top tier have earned loads of cash and an excellent pension fund.  So if by bringing these people back into line it saved x amount I would part with x as long as it went to the cause of my choosing and I had proof of that.

 

I had reason to go to the Town Hall today the first thing that hit me was that it is stifingly hot in there they could save a bit of money on that for a start!   

[greenknight]

I don't disagree Denise and to be honest I would not part with my pennies until there was a new council, a council with a conscious whose actions are transparent.

Today it's been announced that the Mencap office is to close, the Citizens Advice Bureau is under severe financial strain and this is only the begining.

Pensions are a big concern because there can be as much as a twenty year variance between the early retired and those at the other end of the scale.

[dippyhippy]

Definitely not a fool, Green Knight.

 

I posted much the same comment on the IOC Manifesto thread last night /early hours of this morning. I would be prepared to pay a little more into a ring fenced pot, specifically for the most vulnerable members of our community.

 

I may not be rich, but I know I have more than some. I honestly believe that as a society, how we treat the vulnerable within that society reflects on us all.

I can say hand on heart, that if I knew without a shadow of a doubt that this money was protected, and that those in charge were honest, and would ensure this money was spent in the best way....I would pay.

[twowheelsgood]

Having just received my council tax bill for next year of £1408, 2% would be a mere £28, just 54p a week. Yet the Council fear to charge that. Put me down for 4%, its nothing in the scheme of things and I'd happily pay it just to see some basics being addressed. BUT, as my good friends above say, its for services, not overblown salaries, or madcap schemes such as handing out de-icing kit or £8.3m office refits with a dishwasher on every floor or any of the other profligate waste that is STILL endemic in our public services.

[WirralPC]

A very noble idea but I would only part willingly with some cash if the very highly paid council officials were thinned out and the whole setup was audited and brought back into line. I read somewhere but can't remember where just how much of my Council Tax is going towards the Council pension fund. Now I don't begrudge people getting paid well if in my mind they actually earn it. Judging on recent performances I am sorry I do not feel the top tier have earned loads of cash and an excellent pension fund. So if by bringing these people back into line it saved x amount I would part with x as long as it went to the cause of my choosing and I had proof of that.

 

I had reason to go to the Town Hall today the first thing that hit me was that it is stifingly hot in there they could save a bit of money on that for a start!

Wirral Council are dipping into the pension fund money to send officers on jaunts to Paris, Milan, Frankfurt, et al. Check out the John Brace website.

 

As for being noble, the money will probably be snatched out of your hand and squandered on a new drawbridge for the County HQ fortress.