WITH the row over the York budget award for the coming year and Coun Galloway branding it as "grotesque", I thought the following to be of interest.

I live in a standard three bedroom semi-detached property classed as band C for valuation purposes.

I work in the horticultural industry where wages are still governed by a wages board.

Wages between March 1998 and December 2005 have increased as follows:

In March 1998 an adult worker's gross pay for a 39-hour week was £160.85 and this has increased to £217.62 in December 2005. This gives an increase of 35 per cent on the gross amount.

York council tax in March 1998 was £535.26 for the year and has increased to £1,000 for the year ending March 2006. This is a net increase of almost 87 per cent.

Is it not time for some of our councillors to get back into the real world and survive on sensible increases for services and stop the constant moaning?

So if Mr Galloway finds it all a little difficult to balance the books, he doesn't have to wait for an election to move on, he can always go early.

If he then wants to try something different perhaps I could fix him up with a job in horticulture.

Philip Sunley,

Paddock Way, York.

Updated: 09:56 Tuesday, December 20, 2005