Councillors pass budget

A €226 million budget was given the green light this week by city councillors.

They agreed to the expenditure budget at the annual budget meeting, which saw an increase of approximately €4 million in spending compared to 2020.

Councillors voted in favour of the budget, with 22 votes for and eight against.

The main contributors to the rise in expenditure are an increase in payroll of €0.8 million, an increase in pensions of €0.5 million, an increase in funding for public lighting of €1.6 million and an extra €0.4 million for traffic signals.

Cork City Council voted in September to increase the Local Adjustment Factor of the Local Property Tax by 7.5 per cent, which will represent an additional €1.6 million income to the local authority in 2021.

However, even allowing for this increase, Cork City Council will experience reduced income in all revenue streams for 2021, therefore has had to curtail its spend on services across all directorates by €1.5 million.

Cork City Council Chief Executive, Ann Doherty said: “The proposed budget provides a reasonable balance across the competing objectives of developing the social, cultural, economic, environmental and infrastructural needs of the city in a socially inclusive manner that council is charged with progressing.”

There will be no increase to parking charges in 2021, which remain at €1.70/€2/€2.30 for both on-street and off-street parking.

€2.3 million is to be allocated to events, community, arts and sports grants. €911,800 has been provided for arts bodies, including Cork Opera House. €259,800 has been included for Cork City Council Arts Committee grants and €270,000 included for community grants.