Solid county budget for 2020
Cork County Council has passed its first budget since the city boundary extension earlier this year, and the reaction was generally positive.
This week the newly elected council of 55 members signed off on a budget of €338.4 million for 2020, with an additional €6.8 million allocated to road transport and safety.
In September, councillors voted through a five per cent increase in Local Property Tax (LPT), the revenue from which it is hoped will further improve funding in the county.
Fine Gael councillor for the Bandon and Kinsale areas, Kevin Murphy, told the Cork Independent that he was happy with the new budget after what he described as a difficult year.
Cllr Murphy said: “For me it's a very good budget. We were under pressure because of the boundary alteration which has caused us mayhem. We have had a very serious year behind us.
“The increase to the property tax of five per cent is minuscule. It’s something like 30 cents a week roughly.
“We have a good, solid budget going forward for 2020, and I'm happy with it,” he added.
However, not all councillors were satisfied with proceedings, with West Cork Cllr Holly Cairns of the Social Democrats calling for increased clarity in terms of where and how money is to be spent.
“While I welcome focus on climate change, it seems to feature more in the wording of the document than in the figures,” Cllr Cairns said.
She added: “Cork County Council’s budget is €344 million. That’s €825 per person and I wonder, if research was carried out, how much the population of Cork would want efforts and resources to be weighed more towards taking real climate action.”
Fianna Fáil councillor for Carrigaline Audrey Buckley expressed satisfaction with the new budget, but called for increased “pro activity from the council” in certain areas.
Cllr Buckley said: “I would hope for the council to bring in things like the reverse vending machines. I'm getting a lot of calls from people wondering when they can get one.
“The County Council needs to stand behind it. I'm hoping that the environmental portion will cater for things like this.” She also said that she would like to see far more affordable housing being built in the county and that a balance between social and affordable housing should be established.
“We have a lot of people here who are working hard but they just can't get across the line and there should be affordable housing for people like that, so that they can stay within their communities,” she said.
Representing the Green Party, Cllr Alan O’Connor of Cobh highlighted that the retention of municipal allocations was a “very positive” outcome.
“Retaining them at that level in a smaller county with a smaller population, actually meant that there was a per capita increase of investment in community, funded by the revenue from the Local Property Tax,” Cllr O’Connor told the Cork Independent.
He added: “Passing the five per cent increase to the Local Property Tax was a tough decision, and I recognise critics of that, but I was satisfied in the budget that came out,” her said.