Council Tax - deduction for non provision of service ?

[The Phantom]

Does anybody know if you can make a deduction from your council tax if for example your refuse was not collected a certain week due to industrial action being taken by the refuse collection guys ? (non provision of service )

Our neighbour pays a reduced council tax rate as he doesn't have his refuse collected (he recycles 100% of his rubbish and doesn't need a collection), so if you don't get your rubbish collected because the bin man are on strike and the council therefore does not provide this service for a set time, can you reduce your council tax to allow for their failure to provide the service ?

[ss002d6252]

Their is no facility in council tax for any reductions due to non/reduced use of provided services.

[The Phantom]

Originally Posted by ss002d6252

Their is no facility in council tax for any reductions due to non/reduced use of provided services.

That may be so, but no company can charge for a service they do not provide. If they charge me X amount to collect my rubbish out of my council tax, and then do not collect my rubbish, they cannot be entitled to that payment

[Weird Al Yankovic]

Originally Posted by ss002d6252

Their is no facility in council tax for any reductions due to non/reduced use of provided services.

Yes there is.

A library closed in my area a couple of years ago and my local council reflected the savings from that service in the next years tax by not increasing the levy as much as it would have been had it remained open.

[Weird Al Yankovic]

Originally Posted by The Phantom

That may be so, but no company can charge for a service they do not provide. If they charge me X amount to collect my rubbish out of my council tax, and then do not collect my rubbish, they cannot be entitled to that payment

Unfortunately a council is not a company.

[ss002d6252]

Originally Posted by Weird Al Yankovic

Yes there is.

A library closed in my area a couple of years ago and my local council reflected the savings from that service in the next years tax by not increasing the levy as much as it would have been had it remained open.

Not increasing the council tax is different to offering people a discount based on service usage. A council can use any justification it wishes as a reason not to increase - in your area they obviously decided to use the closure of library facilities as the justification but they could have easily used any reasoning.

A council can choose not to increase or vary the increase for any reason they can afford to but their is no legislation which allows an individual decrease based on service usage.