Once again York taxpayers will suffer because of the inept performance of City of York Council and its decision-making.

I refer to the expected shortfall in the car parking revenue ('Park and hide', September 5). It was blatantly obvious that when the price of parking was increased in the city the public would vote with their feet and boycott car parks.

I find it astonishing that officials blame it on a slump in the city's retail trade and the growing popularity of its Park & Ride services. It is just basic economics.

I find it amusing that a council officer's report to councillors advocates freezing the cash allocated to the car park improvement budget. Would it not be more appropriate to reduce the cost of parking to generate more revenue?

The council should strive to run its operations on a more commercial footing since the taxpayers of York are sick of picking up the tab for its totally unprofessional approach.

Such a poor performance would not be tolerated in the commercial world so why should the public sector be any different?

It is about time the city's long-suffering taxpayers received value for money from the council.

C C Pickering,

Rowntree Wharf, York.

Updated: 11:03 Friday, September 09, 2005