I READ with interest the letters to HAS, regarding the anomalies within the council tax method of funding local government.

I started my local government career as a rates-payers rep. for Spennymoor. Rates were replaced by the community charge, dubbed the poll tax, which was replaced by council tax, which is property based.

My position is that if a person(s) bought a large property, in their more prosperous years, then in retirement, their income could drastically reduce.

That is why I favour a local income tax, which would be cheaper to administrate because it would run in conjunction the income-tax system and would be based on affordability, i.e. the largest earners, would pay the highest local income tax, which would be based on a person’s income and ability to pay.

As an ex Spennymoor, Sedgefield & Durham County Councillor, there are still a lot of monies wasted in local government and top directors are overpaid.

Ben Ord, Spennymoor