Raising already high car parking charges by an eye-watering 15 per cent is beyond the pale and we, like most readers, object. Bad news, they say, comes in threes. And if inflation-busting parking charges were not bad enough, 20 middle management posts at Oxford City Council are to be axed, while council tax bills — already among the highest in the UK — are set to rise by five per cent next April. It all paints a pretty miserable picture at the Town Hall. We are expecting similar news from County Hall shortly. In short, taxpayers are once again set to be hit in the pockets at home, through bigger bills, and when they are out-and-about, through rising parking charges and fees. It is hard to know whether to laugh or cry. Councils are hard-up, but that is nothing new. The city council blames the concessionary bus pass scheme for OAPs for a large part of its budget problems – as well as money caught up in the Icelandic banking crisis. But what do we actually get for our money? Most people pay an extortionate amount of council tax. Each year, it seems, the public takes a hit, because in reality it’s the only way the council can raise certain cash. But there is only so much the public is prepared to take.