Rates a red-line issue for councillors

Councillors will not pass a Mayo County Council budget unless a reprieve is given to under-pressure ratepayers.

There is understood to be cross-party agreement on a proposal that will offer a lifeline for ratepayers who are set to see their bills rocket following a national rates revaluation process.

The council’s annual budget meeting takes place on Monday next and councillors are determined to include some respite for ratepayers in the local authority’s financial plan for 2024.

Fine Gael Cllr Peter Flynn previously proposed offering a rates support scheme to ensure small businesses in Mayo don’t pay higher charges next year. Some 63% of business owners have seen their rates reduced but 37% are being hit with hikes that are eye-watering in some cases.

Under Cllr Flynn’s proposal, businesses that paid less than €9,800 in 2023 would not pay more next year.

“This proposal is the main thing we want to get over the line,” Cllr Flynn told the Western People. “That’s the most critical thing and that will be the breaking point for me and a lot of other councillors right across the board. That will be cross-party.

“Businesses are really feeling the pain. It’s a tough enough time for businesses without making their lives more difficult,” Cllr Flynn added.

Cllr Jarlath Munnelly said it is vital that support is offered.

“There has to be some evidence of relief in this budget for ratepayers. Some of this is beyond our control. The revaluation process is happening at Government level and either the Government comes in and helps, and if they are not going to we have to do something at our end,” said Cllr Munnelly.

The Government has announced an Increased Cost of Business Scheme under Budget 2024 but it has not yet been published and it is unclear how it will impact businesses who have seen their rates revalued.

Council CEO Kevin Kelly highlighted the rates issue in his budget statement to councillors and has outlined a plan to mitigate rate increases.

“The members had previously expressed concern about the impact of rate increases on those ratepayers with a commercial rate demand of less than €10,000,” he said. “Approximately 4,061 of the rate accounts are less than €10,000 and after the Government subsidy is factored in only 673 ratepayers would still experience a net increase in cost.

“In order to mitigate this, the budget for 2024 provides for an allocation of €650,000 in order to provide a fund to substantially eliminate the additional net costs being experienced by this group of ratepayers.”

Mr Flynn said he would be satisfied if that €650,000 figure is enough to aid small businesses.

Independent councillor Michael Kilcoyne said he will be backing Mr Flynn’s motion, adding that he will not support a budget that does not offer an adequate housing grant for older people.

“Around six months ago, the council ran out of money and was turning people down for essential repairs. Then they went back to the department and got more, but they wouldn’t do what we were asking them to do. They weren’t claiming enough. I will only be supporting a budget that has enough money in for essential repairs grants for older people and people with disabilities.”

The council will be aiming to balance a €201m budget next Monday morning. The figures highlight that the increase in the revenue spend in 2024 amounts to €24.62m which brings the total increase in revenue spend over the last five years since 2019 to €63m.

“While this increase in spend is very welcome much of it takes the form of specific grants or financial provisions for specified purposes which doesn’t provide for much-needed local discretion,” said Mr Kelly. “However, in 2024, for the first time since 2014, the base allocation of local property tax which is a primary source of discretionary funding increased, and in Mayo this delivered an additional €1.5m.”