YES, it's that time of year again. The snowdrops have pushed through, the days are getting longer... and this year's council tax rises will soon be dropping on to the mat.

The operative word is of course 'rises' for it would be now unimaginable if this last part of the dismal equation were absent.

All the same, your Worcester News would be failing in its duty to its readers if it allowed this year's inevitable increases go through with just a shrug of the shoulders.

This newspaper has always had its doubts about the levy, even if it did replace the much-hated poll tax. The problem is this - with a current inflation figure of 2.2 per cent, how on earth can we go on allowing the tax bill tax for Mr and Mrs Average's Band D property to be running at precisely double this amount?

Even if the Retail Price Index is used as a yardstick, the RPI's current rate of 4.1 per cent is still kicked into touch by a few points.

The maths don't add up now and neither are they likely to in the future, for our gut feeling is that this system is ultimately unsustainable.

In a climate where working people are being asked to show wage restraint, pensioners' incomes are being eroded, and the housing market is experiencing an attack of the jitters, we simply can't go on allowing the public sector to merrily keep on submitting its bills as if the real world is solely the domain of others.

We therefore have to consider reforms that might lead to a form of local income tax bolstered by a more realistic annual settlement from central government.

Those who cast doubts on such a solution may wish to first ask themselves whether the present situation can be allowed to continue for much longer.