No increase in county’s local property tax rate

Paul Murphy

A decision by Meath county councillors not to increase local property tax (LPT) for 2023 will bring much-needed relief to householders struggling with steep energy cost rises and climbing inflation rates.

The councillors voted overwhelmingly not to increase the tax and to keep it at its current level, despite hearing appeals by officials who said that rising fuel costs would affect almost every aspect of council operations.

For a number of years in succession, the councillors made the crucial decision to hold back on any increase.

During a lengthy debate on the LPT at last week's council meeting, there were calls for increased funding for the council, said to be one of the lowest-funded councils in the State. There were also calls for the abolition of the LPT.

Thirty two councillors voted not to vary the LPT and to maintain it at its present level while three Sinn Fein councillors wanted a reduction in the tax for "hard-pressed householders". Five councillors were absent for the vote.

Council chief executive, Jackie Maguire, said that 100 per cent of the LPT collected in a local authority area would remain in that local area but not all of it at the discretion of the council. There was a projected increase in LPT of almost €700,000 for 2023 which was "very welcome". It was one of the biggest increases in the discretionary element of the tax since its introduction in 2013. One of the difficult factors for the county council was that it did not know what its costs were going to be in 2023. The increase in public sector pay would be a factor and the council had to make provision for that. The council was not immune from the increases in energy costs. Energy bills, particularly electricity, had increased by 254 per cent and that did not include the most recent increases which would impact on the council.

Turning to commercial rates, Ms Maguire said that the council had seen an increase in rates revenue over the last nine years – from €26 million to €47 million. "It is very difficult to predict right now what our energy costs will be and there is no indication of any increase in revenue over and above the LPT that we have".

Director of Services for Finance, Fiona Lawless, said that when the public consultation on the tax had been held just 58 people had responded online and there had been no emails or letters. Forty five submissions sought a reduction in the tax, 11 wanted the tax unchanged and two sought an increase.

For every one per cent of LPT collected, council funds gained €186,512. If he councillors left the LPT at the full rate, a total of €18,651 revenue would be collected.

Fianna Fail Cllr Damien O’Reilly proposed and Independent Cllr Brian Fitzgerald seconded that the LPT rate should not be varied. Cllr Fitzgerald said he did not see any reason why they should impose any hardship on anyone by increasing the rate at this particular time. The council had a budget of €167 million and that was a long way from four or five years ago when it stood at €100m. "There is a considerable amount of money being spent in the county and I think we can all see that".

Sinn Fein Cllr Eddie Fennessy proposed that the rate of LPT be reduced by 15 per cent. Ordinary people were "gong through hell at the moment" because of the fuel crisis. "If we have any way of easing the burden on people, then by all means we should take it".

Fine Gael leader on the council, Cllr Gerry O’Connor called on Sinn Fein to say what services in the county should be cut if a reduction of the LPT was to go through. The €18 million to be collected in the tax would pay for homelessness services, housing services, community grants and so on. With a growing population in the county people were looking for more services, not a reduction in them.