JOHN Tasker's letter (Home tax fear, Letters, November 11) concerning my comments on council tax banding raises concerns which, respectfully, I believe to be unfounded.

The intention of any council tax revaluation is not to raise more in tax overall - it is a zero-sum game.

Instead, it recognises that valuations have changed markedly since 1991, and whether an individual property changed bands would depend on whether its value had increased or decreased versus the average property value increase over that period. It would be possible (and indeed likely) that even if a property had increased in value by several times, it would not necessarily increase its council tax band.

When homes in Wales underwent this exercise in 2005, 66 per cent of all homes either stayed in the same band or reduced their band.

Overriding all this is the fact that the Government has decided to postpone any revaluation until after the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007, and does not believe that any revaluation will occur during the life of this Parliament.

This doesn't seem to be a problem which will face homeowners any time soon.

In the meantime, my colleagues and I in the Labour group in York will continue to campaign for the Liberals to reduce the overall council tax burden, which this year increased by 4.9 per cent, more than double the rate of inflation - despite some election leaflets having "£100 cash back" as their headline.

Coun Paul Blanchard (Labour), Chaucer Lane, York.