COUNCIL taxpayers in York and North Yorkshire have the chance to share their views with members of the police authority, who are set to make them pay more for policing.
Chief Constable Della Cannings and authority members will go "on tour" next month to explain why an increase of the police precept on council tax bills is needed and to hear how much people are prepared to pay.
The authority is asking for an increase of between 34 and 74 per cent for 2003/2004 bills. The police precept has already been increased by an average of 41.5 per cent this year.
The extra cash is needed to plug a budget gap caused by a combination of rising police pension costs, historic under-funding, the rising costs of providing a modern police service and a steady decrease in the proportion of the police budget funded by central Government.
The authority expects police spending will need to rise by more than inflation to maintain existing services.
Authority vice-chairman Graeme Robertson JP said: "People keep saying to the police authority that crime and the fear of crime are at the top of their list of public service priorities. So now is the time for us to discuss with people how much they are prepared to pay for some real improvements."
He said the average (Band D) council taxpayer currently pays £1.70 per week or £88.59 per year for the police service, which is just below the average for non-metropolitan forces.
Mr Robertson said: "We would like to see a large attendance at these meetings because they will be important events for policing in this area." Details of the district meetings in our area are as follows: Hambleton: Thirsk East Side Community Hall, January 6, 7pm; Selby: Brayton Community Centre, January 7, 7.30pm; Ryedale: Pickering Memorial Hall, January 9,7.30pm; Harrogate: Granby High School, January 14, 7pm; Richmondshire: Swale House, Richmond, January 20, 7pm; York: Novotel, Fishergate, January 22, 7.30pm; Scarborough: Falsgrave Community Resource Centre, January 29, 7pm.
Updated: 12:05 Saturday, December 21, 2002
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