Carol Nolan slams property tax as deceptive and unfair to families
Carol Nolan criticised the property tax in a speech from 14 July 2021, saying it has not delivered improved services and must be reviewed. She opposed increases that would include sheds and outhouses and warned the tax places a heavy burden on working and farming families.
Main criticism
She said the property tax was introduced with promises it would fund services and infrastructure like roads, but those improvements have not materialised and people feel deceived.
Impact on working and farming families
She described the anger, frustration and bewilderment among ordinary workers and farming families, saying inclusion of sheds and outhouses is particularly wrong and adds a heavy financial burden.
Local evidence on services and roads
In her own constituency of Lee Shoffley she said residents are not seeing increased funding for roads or other services, and noted many counties face the same ongoing problem.
Call for review and fairness
She argued the property tax needs to be reviewed, including its purpose and the rationale under which it was introduced, and stressed the strain on families already facing mortgages and difficulties with banks.
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I'm happy to speak on this amendment here tonight. I suppose what the property tax aimed to do or what we were told it was about when it was first introduced was that it was going to improve services and infrastructure like roads across the state. It hasn't done that. So I can understand the frustration and anger and bewilderment among families, particularly ordinary workers. working families, when they hear now that their property tax will be increased and will include sheds and outhouses and particularly in terms of farming families, obviously those outhouses and buildings. It's very, very wrong. I think people were deceived when the property tax was introduced. We were told that the services, as I say, would be improved. But I know firsthand that certainly in my own constituency of Lee Shoffley, we're not seeing the benefits of improved services in terms in terms of increased funding for roads. It seems to be an ongoing problem. And I know there's many, many counties in the very same boat. So it's not right. I feel that it needs to be reviewed, the property tax and its purpose and the rationale under which it was brought in. And I'd actually go as far as saying that, you know, the deception that was there about it, because we really don't see any improvement in services. And I think that's the problem with ordinary working families to pay more. And these are families, you know, that are, many of them hard pressed with, with mortgages and with, with very little fairness from banks, if they want to restructure mortgages. So we need to bear that in mind that it's a, it's another heavy financial burden on ordinary working families. And they don't see the benefit for paying the property tax. And I think that's the problem with it. And that's why we have so much anger and frustration around the issue of property tax. For the community, we have so much anger and frustration around the issue of property tax. And that's why we have so much anger and frustration about it. So, let's see, let's see. So, let's see. So, let's see.
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