Essex County Council leader Lord Hanningfield today called for council tax to be scrapped.
The top-ranking Tory claims the charge is a "dead man walking" and its days are "well and truly numbered".
"It is only a matter of time before someone puts it out of its misery," he said.
Council tax was launched by the Conservative government in the 1990s after the poll tax disaster.
Lord Hanningfield says it is now massively unpopular and takes power away from councils who have to rely on the Government for handouts to pay for most services.
Local authorities should be allowed to raise their own money, he said. They could use a range of options, including local income tax, revamped property taxes and business rates, and local VAT and road taxes.
- More in today's Gazette
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