Publican's rage at rates demand
By Andrew Sangster
A backdated rates demand totalling more than £29,000 has left publican Colin Crawford fuming at both his local council and central Government.
Rutland District Council failed to notify the valuation officer about changes to Mr Crawford's pub - the Blue Ball Inn at Braunston-in-Rutland, Leicestershire - with the result that Mr Crawford was not told of an annual rates increase of more than £8,000 for two and a half years.
Then, rather than wait to agree the payment with Mr Crawford, the council attempted to secure the backdated amount by using the direct debit set up to pay his previous rates bill of just over £1,300 a year.
"The first I heard about this was when my bank manager called me, telling me what the council were doing," said Mr Crawford.
Profit margins would now have to be increased enough to cover both the much higher rates and the backdated demand, he added. "It puts me at a considerable disadvantage with my competitors."
Mr Crawford bought the Blue Ball Inn in November 1990. He closed the business for renovation and reopened it in March the following year.
Proper planning consent for the alterations was obtained, but due to a mix-up at the council, the increase in rateable value of the pub from £3,300 to £27,000 was not charged for until October last year.
"I can't go back to all the customers I served over the past few years and ask them to pay 50p more for each meal to cover the rates bill," said Mr Crawford.
A complaint to the local government ombudsman has failed to get any satisfaction for Mr Crawford. The ombudsman considered that the behaviour of the council was "fair and reasonable".
To fight the initial bill and to reduce his pub's valuation, Mr Crawford estimates he has spent £1,500. "I don't have time to deal with this bureaucracy. John Major claims to be helping small businesses but all I can see is us being penalised for taking a chance."
The council has agreed to extend the period of payment over 31 months and by using a firm of surveyors, the rateable value has been reduced on appeal to £16,000, but this still leaves Mr Crawford with a significant bill.
- Uniform Business Rates (UBR) will be blamed for killing off thousands of small enterprises by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) during today's launch of its guide to UBR.
A spokesman for the FSB estimated that 3,500 businesses closed in the first nine months of this year as a result of UBR, about 10% of the total number of business failures.