Councillors vote for increase in property tax
Property tax is set to rise by five per cent in Cork county after a close vote in County Hall yesterday.
The decision came after a lengthy debate on the matter with Fianna Fáil and some Independents advocating for the Local Property Tax (LPT) to stay the same.
The Green Party initiated the move for a rise saying that it would be lead to better services for the people of Cork county.
The council meeting was also adjourned for 15 minutes so Fine Gael could decide what to do. Fine Gael ended up siding with the Green Party on this occasion and said they would like to see an increase for the same reason.
Lorraine Lynch, Head of Finance, and the Chief Executive Tim Lucey were keen for councillors to vote for an increase given that they’ve estimated a shortfall in their 2020 budget. This is due mainly, they said, because of payroll increases of about €3 million and a €26 million fall in the commercial rates since Cork city’s boundary extended.
Local Property Tax is also set to decrease by about €8 million because of the boundary changes too.
Cork City Council is due to give Cork County Council a compensation package and this is near finalisation and an agreement has just about been reached by both local authorities on the exact figure.
The estimated compensation package Cork County Council believes it will receive has been included in the projected income for 2020 of €328,714,809 while they've estimated €353,899,993 in outgoings.
Ms Lynch and Mr Lucey warned if councillors didn’t vote in favour of an increase, it would lead to cash flow problems which would hinder future operations of Cork County Council. They wanted a 15 per cent increase, which is the highest councillors could decide to go up or down by.
Councillors voted 27-24 in favour of a five per cent increase to the LPT which will mean a yearly rise of €11-20 for the majority (82 per cent) of householders in county Cork.
Fianna Fáil Cllr Seamus McGrath said that the property tax remains “deeply unpopular”.
He added: “We as a party believe that we should be drilling into each sector to see where we can redirect funding. While we don’t believe that a decrease is appropriate either, increasing it is something we are not prepared to do. We proposed no variation to the current tax rate.”
Labour’s Cathal Rasmussen said that he was in favour of a small increase if it meant that services wouldn't be impacted.
Independent Cllr Danny Collins said he couldn’t “on his heart and soul” put an increase on householders. He added: “People are suffering and they are cash strapped. The people of Cork county shouldn't suffer because of the boundary extension.”
Fine Gael’s Susan McCarthy, while agreeing to an increase so that amenities like playgrounds could continue to be built, queried the pay roll increase given that 300 staff have transferred from County Hall to City Hall after the boundary change. She added: “I think people would rather pay the increase of 90 cent a week and see playgrounds in their area than see services decline.”