COUN Vassie says the latest council tax rise for York, at twice the rate of annual inflation, amounts to three postage stamps (94p) per week and is great value for money (Letters, March 4). This is typical of unaccountable government.

His assumption that £400-plus is the average weekly income for York is also not detailed enough.

The council produces accounts which are legally admissible for the official auditors. I am sure that all expenditure and receipts are checked by the auditors to verify the accounts.

Yet the accounts presented to the public do not in detail confirm where the tax is spent - unless you accept such terms as miscellaneous, other, building cleaning etc.

If we are to believe the claims by councillors of value for money, is it not time that every penny spent and received is publicly made transparent?

Could City of York Council not publish in the Evening Press a detailed one-page monthly breakdown in layman's terms of that month's expenditure?

Nationally, more than £21 billion council tax is raised each year with the average band D household paying £1,250 per annum.

To ease the burden and spread the cost of council tax, especially for pensioners and the lower paid, raising VAT (£80 billion per annum) to 20 per cent would provide £11 billion extra per annum. If this were pledged to councils it would halve the average council tax to about £600 per annum.

T Scaife,

Manor Drive North,

York.

Updated: 10:34 Friday, March 17, 2006