Landfill tax is designed to encourage people to throw away less but at the moment it's unfairly penalising hard-pressed councils
Cllr Paul Bettison
Commenting in anticipation of the landfill levy rising by £8 in April, the Local Government Association asked the government to fulfil its pledge to give money raised through the levy back to councils.
If this does not happen, the organisation warned that nearly £70 per household would go to Whitehall over the next three years – which would result in a £1.5 billion bill for council tax payers.
At present, councils have to pay £24 in landfill tax. However, this will rise to £32 in April and £48 a tonne by 2010.
Speaking two weeks after the LGA questioned how landfill tax was being spent (see letsrecycle.com story) the chairman of the LGA's environment board Councillor Paul Bettison said that the current landfill levy was a “stealth tax” which was “literally costing councils the earth”.
And, he claimed that councils were also facing EU fines of £150 a tonne for every tonne of rubbish that is dumped in landfill. The LGA has estimated that this would amount to £200 million by 2013.
He said: “Despite repeated requests, the Government is yet to demonstrate in a clear and transparent way how this money is being given back to local authorities to keep council tax down and build the waste and recycling facilities that the country needs. Ministers have not even told councils how much money has been raised so far.”
“Landfill tax is designed to encourage people to throw away less but at the moment it's unfairly penalising hard-pressed councils that need the money to build more recycling plants,” he added.
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