British taxpayers paid about $1.14 for queen and her family

LONDON — Public funding for Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family cost British taxpayers the equivalent of $1.14 each last year, according to accounts published Monday.

The queen’s office said that the costs incurred by the royal family were $68.6 million in the year to March 31, an increase of $2.48 million from the previous year.

It means supporting the royal family cost British taxpayers the equivalent of an extra five U.S. cents each last year.

Public money is used to pay the costs of travel and operating and staffing homes used by the royal family, including the queen’s Buckingham Palace residence.

Sir Alan Reid, the Keeper of the Privy Purse said travel costs rose because fewer aircraft were available from the air force, meaning that members of the royal family needed to charter commercial aircraft for overseas visits, often at short notice.

Figures showed that royal family travel costs rose to $10.76 million from $10.26 million. The queen visited Slovenia and Slovakia last year, while her son Prince Charles toured Japan and Indonesia.

Graham Smith, campaign manager for republic, an anti-monarchy group, said the costs can’t be justified.

"Very obviously they have no regard for public finances at all. There’s no reason why the queen can’t be paid a salary and a few million be spent on the staff,” Smith said.

Costs of security for the royal family provided by the police and army are not included in the accounts.



by the associated press

Benefit tax breaks Obama campaign vow

WASHINGTON — The Obama White House left open the possibility Sunday that the president would break a campaign promise and raise taxes on people earning less than $250,000 to support his health care overhaul plan.

White House adviser David Axelrod said the administration wouldn’t rule out taxing some employees’ benefits to fund a health care agenda that has yet to take final form. The move would be a compromise with fellow Democrats, who are pushing the proposal as a way to pay for the massive undertaking without ballooning the federal deficit.

"There are a number of formulations and we’ll wait and see. The important thing at this point is to keep the process moving, to keep people at the table, to keep the discussions going,” Axelrod said. "We’ve gotten a long way down the road and we want to finish that journey.”

But if President Barack Obama compromises on that point, it would reverse a campaign tax promise.

"I pledge that under my plan, no one making less than $250,000 a year will see any type of tax increase,” Obama told a crowd in Dover, N.H., last year. "Not income tax, not capital gains taxes, not any kind of tax.”

Under the current proposals, a tax on health benefits would affect only those with pricey health plans. The idea would be to tax as income the portion of health benefits worth more than a specified limit. Officials are considering several options, including one that would set the limit at $17,240 for family coverage and $6,800 for individuals.

Plans worth more than that would be taxed; those worth less would not be.

Axelrod appeared on ABC’s "This Week” and NBC’s "Meet the Press.”


by the associated press