I'm still not convinced about his declaration of pride in the county council's 4.9 per cent increase in its part of our Council Tax.

As you were democratically elected Clr Neil, I decided to implement a similar process using a cross section of public opinion to determine whether your claim is justified. And following a show hands from the lads in the pub, we have unanimously agreed that it would be more beneficial to all local residents if our nominated representatives such as yourself, were able to show similar pride in the state of our local roads and other under-funded amenities.

Now I know you'll blame one of the other councils that share in the bounty known as Council Tax, for this oversight. Yes you're right, us mere mortals are not quite sure who does what between county, Vale Royal, Northwich or parish council, a situation that allows you to pass on the blame without fear of contradiction. And to be honest we're not really bothered, we just want to see some part of our taxes spent where it is needed most - those areas where it is obvious to all on a daily basis.

The absurd level of Council Tax in our area is now like a second mortgage to most people, the main difference being that you can see something tangible for the first one.

And finally, a few other observations from the glossy green brochure supplied with my Council Tax bill that is meant to reveal all. The 2002/03 budget shows expected expenditure of £154,576 on recreation and tourism, £193,690 on other services, and £96,445 on miscellaneous - that's 66 per cent to be spent on things unnamed. Obviously a comprehensive and detailed breakdown of costs for our benefit

It came as no surprise that the bar graph showing capital expenditure for 2002/03 had the column for highways, roads and transport as nothing but a sliver above the base line - like the sun setting for the very last time with no hope for the future.

And on the same bar graph take a look at the columns covering planning and development (no explanation as to what they are planning or where they intend to develop). The column for 2002/03 visually shows a moderate increase in this expenditure. However, take a look at the figures that show last year's expenditure as 4,082k against 8,147k for this year - yes, more than double. This optical illusion is brought to you by fiddling the values on the vertical axis of the graph - naughty, naughty! Whatever next?

A P JONES

Our Council Tax bill is like having a second mortgage