Extra business tax to be debated

Firms in Coventry will be consulted over plans to stop or change the purpose of an extra tax on businesses.

A Business Improvement District (BID) came into legal effect in the city in 2007 to provide CCTV monitoring and broadband to all companies in the city.

Every firm in Coventry is now required to pay an annual levy of about £500 per year to pay for the service.

Brian Hecks, Coventry Best for Business chairman, said some firms had struggled to pay it during the recession.

The BID, which is run by Coventry Best for Business, is a legal entity that has been set up by a council together with the chamber of commerce, with the support of businesses in a town or city.

Bankruptcy debts

About 2,400 firms belong to Coventry's BID which was introduced in October 2007 and was voted for by 477 companies out of 833 that responded to a council ballot.

Mr Hecks admitted he only found out about the BID when the first levy demand arrived in April.

He said: "That's probably my fault for not finding out about it when the BID was being proposed.

"I'm sure a lot of people just sleep walked into it because only a small number of businesses actually responded to the consultation and now we all have to pay for something we don't necessarily want and the only way to change that is by getting elected onto the board to change the aims of the BID and the levy."

Its board has now agreed to consult its members about what the BID's future aims should be.

It said it would suspend any further expenditure on the CCTV and broadband project until after a ballot of BID members had been held.

Mr Hecks said he hoped to start the consultation by the end of November and to hold the Alteration Ballot before the next levy is due in April 2010.