0 Have your say A typical Scottish household will pay an average of £37 more in council tax this year, according to official statistics, which also reveal a postcode lottery of bills across Scotland.The average council tax paid per dwelling across Scotland will increase from £1,069 in 2017-18 to £1,106 in the current financial year of 2018-19, according to Scottish Government statistics.When the data is broken down by local authority area, it reveals large disparities in the amount paid by the average household.Argyll and Bute will see the largest increase with the average bill going up from £1,071 to £1,166, a rise of £95. But in neighbouring West Dunbartonshire the increase is just £18, with the average bill rising from £971 to £989.The council tax freeze operated by the Scottish Government and local authorities ended in 2017 as town hall budgets came under pressure. In his most recent budget, Finance Secretary Derek … [Read more...] about Revealed: Scotland’s postcode lottery of council tax rises
Council
Portage mayor, City Council reach agreement over fate of Utility Service Board after protracted dispute that included a lawsuit
PORTAGE — The City Council and Mayor James Snyder have reached an agreement on how to end their dispute over the legality of the Utility Service Board.The stipulated agreement was approved by the City Council late Friday afternoon and will be entered into the courts, canceling a hearing scheduled for Monday morning.Snyder brought a lawsuit against the City Council about two months ago, claiming they were acting in opposition to state law and the USB was improperly formed.The City Council, which took over the USB just over a year ago, claiming Snyder was inappropriately using funds from the utility department to lease cars and attempted to spend $93,000 of the department's money to pay his personal legal fees, believed the board was acting properly.In essence, the agreement calls for the council to create separate stormwater and sanitary sewer boards, which operated in the city prior to 2010 when the two boards were combined into one Utility Service Board.The council will likely … [Read more...] about Portage mayor, City Council reach agreement over fate of Utility Service Board after protracted dispute that included a lawsuit
Candidate Grover Price drawn to run for council by his desire to help everyday people
Grover Price didn’t set out to enter politics, he said, but his friends and neighbors pressed him into duty.As the founder of the Hope Center, a nonprofit community center on 11th Street Northwest, he became someone people came to for all kinds of help, in part because they didn’t feel they would get any satisfaction going to city government.“They kind of put me in a position where they feel like I can get their voices heard,” Price said.He first emerged as a candidate in 2016, but dropped out of the race early because the Hope Center received its tax-exempt status and began to grow, he said.Price is running again as an independent because he believes the current council is out of touch with regular folks, especially in distressed neighborhoods like his in northwest. He resigned from the board of the Hope Center to eliminate any conflicts of interest should he be elected, but continues to work as a volunteer there, he said.“No one represents the people. … [Read more...] about Candidate Grover Price drawn to run for council by his desire to help everyday people
Joe Cobb sees a calling in running for Roanoke council seat
In the fall, Joe Cobb had left his job as pastor at Roanoke’s Metropolitan Community Church and subsequently turned down a job in the same denomination’s founding church in Los Angeles.But he realized he just didn’t want to leave Roanoke, he said.After years moving around Kansas as a Methodist minister, he’d been in Roanoke 17 years and it had become home.“This city has welcomed me, and I’ve been able to be who I am, love who I love, and thrive in ways that I never imagined possible, and I want to pay that forward,” he said.Cobb, perhaps Roanoke’s most recognized gay man and LGBTQ advocate, wants to pay it forward by serving on the Roanoke City Council.He’s one third of a Democratic ticket and running an energetic campaign fueled by his concern for social justice. He’s raised nearly $15,000 through March, according to campaign finance reports filed last week, which puts him behind only independent incumbents Ray Ferris and … [Read more...] about Joe Cobb sees a calling in running for Roanoke council seat
John Bolton begins to shape National Security Council staff
Democracy Dies in Darkness Sections Home Subscribe Try 1 month for $1 Username Sign In Account Profile Newsletters & Alerts Gift Subscriptions Contact Us Help Desk Subscribe Account Profile Newsletters & Alerts Gift Subscriptions Contact Us Help Desk Accessibility for screenreader Post Politics by David Nakamura by David Nakamura Email the author April 20 at 6:59 PM Email the author National security adviser John Bolton listens as President Trump speaks about Syria in the White House on Friday. (Susan Walsh/AP) PALM BEACH, Fla. — John Bolton, the new national security adviser to President Trump, is moving quickly to shape his team, naming a top Commerce Department official, Mira R. Ricardel, as his deputy on Friday, the White House announced. Ricardel previously worked at Boeing and also worked at the Pentagon in the George W. Bush administration, and she ran Trump's transition team at … [Read more...] about John Bolton begins to shape National Security Council staff