Kilkenny County Council’s agreed to retain the local property tax at its current level.
The recommendation had been made by Chief Executive Colette Byrne and presented to elected representatives at their monthly meeting this afternoon.
They unanimously agreed with the suggestion and say the additional funding raised will help fund many worthwhile projects for communities.
The motion was proposed by Cllr. Mary Hilda Cavanagh and seconded by Cllr. Andrew McGuinness.
In June, the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, announced changes to the Local Property Tax (read about that here).
According to Martin Prendiville, Head of Finance, “The COVID pandemic has seriously impacted many of the Council’s funding sources including commercial rates and car parking, making the Councillor’s decision on the Local Property Tax all the more important”. Mr. Prendiville continued “in addition, the Council like so many businesses, has seen increased costs in delivering its services and projects during this pandemic”.
In outlining the importance of the additional income raised by the Councillors’ decision, Colette Byrne, Chief Executive, said that “This funding helps to provide match funding for many national grant schemes including Town and Village Renewal Scheme, Outdoor Rural Infrastructure Scheme and Rural Regeneration Development Fund. In Callan, the upgrade to the Fair Green, the Motte Field Walk along with works to the Abbey Field were all realised with the support of Council funding. In Thomastown, the upgrades to the car park along with the current works at Lowe Street and Logan were made possible with this discretionary funding. There are similar projects all across the County that are made possible with the additional funding from the local property tax”.
Cathaoirleach of the Council, Cllr. Fidelis Doherty outlined that “the funding enables the Council to make contributions at budget time to so many worthwhile projects, including the Watergate Theatre, Rothe House, Castlecomer Discovery Park, Butler Gallery, the Garda Youth Programme, Rural Transport, Ossory Youth, Keep Kilkenny Beautiful and so many of the Festivals for which Kilkenny is renowned”. The Cathaoirleach continued “these projects are so important to the people of Kilkenny and whilst the Council’s contribution may be modest it is essential to many groups and projects. The last year has been challenging for so many people and communities and the Council being in a position to support community projects is a small measure of acknowledgement of their important work during this difficult time. Many of these projects would struggle without the Council’s contribution as other sources of funding and local fundraising continue to be challenged”.
In supporting the Chief Executive’s recommendation, the Elected Members welcomed the proposal to retain the Local Property Tax at 2020 and 2021 level.
