Furious business owners claim the north-east has once again been unfairly squeezed for cash – this time through massive rises in water rates.
Last year firms were hammered by extreme hikes in business rates, based on a national revaluation carried out before the oil and gas downturn plunged them into danger.
The region accounted for half the rise in rateable values – which determine how much the government takes in tax – across the whole of Scotland.
It sparked a huge outcry which eventually pushed Holyrood into providing financial support to cushion the blow.
But now the same highly-criticised assessments have been used for an overhaul of charges for water, resulting in another round of soaring bills.
Among those badly affected is Graham Mogford who has been told he will pay 400% more than before for water.
The owner of the Bridges nursery in Westhill has received a bill for his water charges which he calculates will raise his annual charge from £2,649 to £6,526.
Mr Mogford, who blamed spiralling business rates for the closure of his Bridge of Don nursery, said: “We will be explaining this to the parents of our children, who will ultimately be picking up the tab again.”
Stewart Spence, owner of the Marcliffe hotel in Aberdeen, said: “We are in much the same position as this nursery.
“At the moment we pay over £20,000 a year for water, so this is going to cost us thousands and thousands more, and there’s just no justification for it.
“The big problem that we have is unfortunately we just cannot get the Scottish Government to understand business. In the days of Alex Salmond and John Swinney, they were respected by businesses across Scotland because they listened to us, but we just can’t get anyone to listen to us in the Scottish Government anymore.”
The owner of the Cheers pub in Fraserburgh, Dennis Forsyth, said it felt like traders were being “attacked on all ends”.
He added: “You just wonder what we will be hit with next, we are being landed with so many additional overheads which we don’t want to pass onto customers to cover.”
And the owner of the Beach Bar in Lossiemouth, Graham Fleming, complained that businesses across the region have been trapped in a “vicious circle” of ever-increasing outgoings.
He said: “This feels like a double-whammy, and it makes you worry that some people will be contemplating throwing the towel in.”
Their concerns were echoed last night by Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, which said it had received complaints on the issue.
James Bream, director of research and policy at Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is another blow for hard-pressed north-east business, which we identified and raised with the Scottish Government as part of the consultation in 2016.
“Not only will it unfairly penalise organisations in the region, it adds significant costs at a time when many are still struggling with the economic downturn.”
Aberdeenshire West Conservative MSP Alexander Burnett said: “It is difficult to see how any business could cope with such eye-watering hikes in bills.”
Water provider Business Stream – which is part of the Scottish Water group – said the new rates were “fairer” across the country as a whole.
Director of customer operations Jo Mayes said: “The forthcoming move to Live RV is a Scottish Government initiative that is being introduced to ensure that rateable values are brought up to date for the purposes for charging for water and waste water, in the belief that this will help create a fairer charging system.
“Whilst for some customers this will have a positive or neutral impact on their bills, for others it will result in an increase to their charges.
“The Scottish Government have agreed a three-year transitional period to allow customers to plan for the full impact.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The system for charging non-household properties for property and roads drainage is outdated.
“It currently uses Rateable Values set when the property was entered onto the valuation roll or last modified with some values dating back to 1995.
“This means there are substantial differences in the costs that similar properties pay.
“We recognise this is an unfair situation and are now bringing these Rateable Values in line with those most recently assigned by the assessor, and are phasing in the changes over the next two years.
“This is not a revenue generating measure for Scottish Water. While some customers’ charges may increase, others will see reductions.”
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