YOUR council tax special double page spread (Anger at 3.8% rise) was interesting.

It was a surprise to read that someone who lives well outside Test Valley had been invited to comment, but more worrying were the claims made by Lib Dem Len Gates.

Last year, the council he is a member of, Andover Town Council, raised its precept by a whopping 90 per cent and residents are still waiting to hear why.

Test Valley in contrast has to manage the gradual withdrawal of its grant (known as the revenue support grant or RSL) from central government which requires a careful balance between cost savings, seeking ways to increase income and an inevitable, but small, increase in the Test Valley portion of the council tax bill.

His point about double taxation (due to the Andover special expenses levy) does raise a fair question. It has been answered before. However the explanation is straightforward and involves examining the services delivered to Andover residents.

Perhaps this is best demonstrated by a simple comparison with Romsey, also in Test Valley. Andover residents were in fact paying less, if you add the Andover Town Council precept to the special expenses levy, than the residents of Romsey were paying to their town council. With the 90 per cent increase last year Andover residents now pay more than Romsey.

It is therefore clearly a bit rich for local Lib Dems to complain about Tories hiking council tax when they have done just that themselves.

Borough Cllr David Drew, Goodworth Clatford.

PS: On Friday, February 24, TVBC agreed its part of the council tax, which was raised by 3.8 per cent as previously indicated.

The overall council tax rates for Test Valley residents are now confirmed and are £1,540.72 for Andover Town and £1,537.68 for Romsey Town for a band D property – reinforcing the point I made in the letter below.

NB these are total numbers and include parish, borough, county, police and fire service charges.