Are you A Piggy Bank for Your Council? – Motorists Seen as Cash Cows
Are you A Piggy Bank for Your Council? –
Motorists Seen as Cash Cows
I know I’ve written about this before, but it is a bit much when your local council sees your piggy bank as the place to raid and treats you as a cash cow when you are trying to squirrel away the odd few bob. But did you know parking fees have gone up above inflation in the nation? Motorist are being used to plug the holes in the coffers of local councils as they get less from the central authorities. Here we all paid more than £70m to park in council car parks and it’s up nearly £6m on last year.
Inflation Busters of the Worst Sort
Edinburgh raked in £26.7m in 2016/17 and is by far the bigger earner in this way. Earnings up nearly 10% or over £2m on the previous year. Glasgow pillaged your piggy banks to the tune of more than £20m, and there will be more on the way as councils struggle. And of course I told you about the top 10 places to get a parking ticket in Scotland which is yet more of a rip off for the motorist. Parking fines actually went up 10% by value in the last 12 months, that’s way above inflation. And you can bet your boots that this money won’t be spent on repairing potholes in the road which are at an all time high.
One motoring organisation say eight out of ten Scottish motorists are dependent on their cars and they say this really seems like a stealth tax as few people have a realistic alternative to owning and running a car. And whatever you do don’t get me started on private parking firms or my blood pressure will be sky high, these are real rip off merchants. And you’ve no chance of fighting abuses in my experience.
Squirrel It Away
Something that does keep my blood pressure down is James Pirie’s ease of shopping and affordable prices on quality goods. I haven’t had a ticket since I dropped the wife of at a bus stop in the rain, but it still rankles. So it’s extra soothing to see a special offer on one of our great products like this Pride of Scotland - the thistle. Here vibrant eccentric colours surround this stunning flower. Perfect for those with an eccentric personality, like me.
