Business rate reform is needed as small businesses including those in York face mounting costs, councillors have said.
They have called on the Government to review the entire business rates system amid fears some small companies in brick-and-mortar premises will face sudden hikes as property revaluations take effect.
Cllr Paul Healey, finance spokesperson for City of York Council’s Liberal Democrat opposition, said rising costs for cafés, pubs and others were pushing already tight margins to the breaking point.
Labour’s Cllr Conrad Whitcroft said the Government had made changes to business rates but a revamp was needed to level the playing field between online and physical businesses.
York councillors backed a call for reforms and it comes as new business rate valuations arrive today, Wednesday, 1 April.
Businesses including in the hospitality sector warned they could be hit with sharp hikes when they are taxed based on new rates based on 2024 property values.
The independent Valuation Office Agency assess property values once every three years but this year’s is the first to reflect the recovery which has taken place since the coronavirus pandemic.
The Government unveiled £4.3 billion-worth of measures in January including £3.2 billion to support the largest rate-payers, £500 million in small business aid and £800 rise caps for the smallest firms.
Eligible retail, hospitality and leisure businesses will also pay lower rates from April as the Government hikes taxes on properties valued at £500,000 or more.
The motion passed at City of York Council’s full meeting on Thursday, 26 March calls for the Government to review the system.
It also calls for the council to look at how it can support businesses facing sharp increases or those who face losing rate relief.
But Liberal Democrat Cllr Healey said the reality for some businesses was that costs had risen to the point where they were no longer sustainable as pressure continues to mount.
He added business rate costs unfairly fell most heavily on companies based in bricks-and-mortar premises under the current system.
Cllr Healey said: “It feels like every week we read stories about cafés, pubs or another community venue pulling down its shutters for the last time.
“For many cost pressures can’t be absorbed over time, they’re pushing already tight margins to the breaking point while their online competitors face lower operating costs.
“Once a business closes it’s not easy to replace and it becomes harder to maintain the character and vibrancy of the high street.”
Labour’s Cllr Whitcroft said that while changes the Government had already made ahead of the revaluations coming into effect were welcome, more needed to be done.
The Fishergate ward councillor said: “The changes the Government’s brought in will be a tremendous boon to our city, where would we be without all our fabulous pubs?
“We’re calling to revamp business rates entirely to level the playing field between online and high street businesses.”
A devastated family have paid tribute to a teenage girl who died in a crash involving a tractor near York.
She has been named as 17-year-old Mariella Rose.
At around 3.40pm on Monday (30 March), an orange Chevrolet travelling eastbound was in collision with a tractor near Everingham, between Pocklington and Holme-on-Spalding-Moor.
It happened near to Storwood Game Farm.
Emergency services attended but Mariella, the driver of the Chevrolet, died at the scene.
Her family are being supported by specialist trained officers.
In their tribute, Mariella’s family said today: “Mariella sprinkled stardust on everyone she met.”
She was a volunteer at East Yorkshire Mind, a crew member at Shiptonthorpe McDonald’s, a student at Askham Bryan College, and a Humberside Police cadet based in Beverley.
Her family continued: “Her love of music, the Yorkshire countryside, and her travels across Greece made her a beautiful, joyous young woman.
“From a very young age, her strong sense of right and wrong led to a natural ambition to become a police officer.
“Our hearts go out to everyone who knew Mariella, her friends, colleagues and, naturally, all her family.”
Humberside Police are appealing for anyone who may have been in the area around the time of the collision, who has dashcam footage or witnessed the collision to contact us on our non-emergency number 101 quoting log 304 of 30 March.
