Nine out of ten motorists face higher road tax under changes, figures buried in the Budget revealed. The amount raised in council tax will increase in 2009 by more than double the rate of inflation.

The TaxPayers' Alliance calculated that 88 percent of automobiles would be hit with higher tax, while only nine percent would leave car owners better off.

In an interview with the UK Press, the alliance said the Treasury would get more than £1 billion from the changes designed to encourage the production of more environmentally friendly cars. Treasury officials estimate that the council tax take will rise 5.1 percent to £24.9 billion in the 12 months from April. Last year, receipts soared 6.7 percent to £23.7 billion.

The Tories said the figures showed that Government promises to cap council tax rises at five percent were hollow. Since 1997, the tax has almost doubled under Labour. The Local Government Association, meanwhile, maintained that the estimate did not mean that average bills would increase by 5.1 percent. The association said the average rise will be about four percent.

"The higher estimates for the amount to be raised could be for many reasons. There could be more people paying council tax because of an increase in the number of households. And there could be few people claiming a single person discount. But it does not automatically mean 5.1 percent average rises," a senior association official told the Telegraph.

Matthew Elliott, the chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said another big rise "would tip many household budgets over the edge".

While there’s Weatherstrip to fight wind noise and pelts of rain, motorists would want to avoid, as much as possible, higher duties.

At the Fruitland Township, instead of bothering about road tax, spending plan for bumpy roads was approved. The plan will take effect on the first of April. The township board of trustees, in a split vote Monday night, adopted a budget that maintains most of the spending reforms set in place in the 2007-08 budget and earmarked funds for reconstruction of a stretch of Orshal Road, reported MLive.

The overall budget features additional, separate funds, including a larger public roads fund. The highlights in the budget include the setting aside of $150,000 for road repair on Orshal Road. Last year, the special roads committee ranked the road as top priority.