TEN county councillors fell into arrears with their council tax over the last year, it has been revealed.
Figures show that four members of the Powys Independent Alliance, four of the Shire Independent Group, one of the Welsh Conservative Party and one of the Welsh Liberal Democrats received reminders to pay off their council tax.
According to a Freedom of Information request submitted in March this year, the bills ranged from £79 to £375, with two councillors receiving ‘final’ notices and one receiving a summons.
The request specifically asked how many councillors have been sent reminder letters for non-payment of council tax since April of last year; how much council tax remained unpaid to prompt the reminder letter; the political allegiances of the councillors and how many of the councillors were cabinet members.
At the time of answering the request on April 26, Powys County Council had not yet moved to its ‘leader and cabinet’ system. Individual councillors were not named by the authority.
The response does not indicate whether councillors appeared to be in arrears because they pay via direct debit, only that they received reminders to pay.
A letter from Geoff Petty, the council’s strategic director for finance, was then sent to all county councillors advising them to pay via direct debit.
This was criticised by Cwmtwrch member Sandra Davies who highlighted the cost of sending the letter and asked why it was not solely directed at certain councillors.
“This is an issue that has to be taken very seriously,” said a spokesman for Powys County Council.
“The letter was sent out to remind members of their position if they do fall into arrears with their council tax.”
A member who has not paid the amount due on their council tax for at least two months must disclose this and is precluded from voting on any matter affecting the level of council tax under the Local Government Finance Act 1992.
“Failure to comply with this may result in a criminal prosecution and on summary conviction a member will be liable to a maximum fine of £1,000,” the spokesman said.
A letter was issued instead of an e-mail to ensure each member would receive a hard copy of the information, the spokesman added.
“The letters were placed in the members’ pigeon holes on June 6 for them to collect.
"Any letters that were not collected were posted to individual members at the end of the week.
“The council would encourage members and our residents to pay their council tax or business rates via direct debit as once it has been set up, the right amount is paid on the right date and there is no more worrying about forgetting to pay or paying when away.
“However, it is up to individual councillors and residents to decide what payment methods suit them.”