Councillor Linda Cowling states (Gazette & Herald, March 4) that savings are to be made on the cost of running the council, rather than reducing services or increasing council tax.

Could she then please explain why the household dustbin is now collected only 26 times a year when once it was 52? After all, when you pay for 52, you expect to get 52.

The council decided to introduce a brown bin service, despite that “collecting garden waste is not a service that local authorities are under a duty to provide”. Nevertheless, you still got a service, albeit split 50-50 between brown and green bins.

A consultation exercise took place showing that the majority were not in favour of being charged for this brown bin service, yet a fee was introduced. Last year your service was cut by 50 percent (green bins only) unless you paid this fee.

The council set this fee at £27 to cover your £12 service (£285,000 cost divided by approximately 24,000 households). I note subscriptions are now due for renewal at a cost of £36 for your (pro-rata) £16 service.

If last year every household paid the “voluntary” £27 fee, then £648,000 of your contributions would have been collected (24,000 x 27). Not bad, trying to get residents to overpay the actual £285,000 running costs by £363,000.

This council is trying to get money and cut services by stealth. Even the front page article states that another tourist information centre is to close.

The council tax has been frozen for six years. But they just increase it by asking for your money in a different way. Band D at £176.72, with brown bin £212.72.

Stephen Preston, Malton