No changes to Kilkenny property tax this year

Local Property Tax in Kilkenny will remain the same this year.

The decision was agreed upon at Kilkenny County Council’s monthly meeting in the Watergate Theatre this afternoon (Wednesday).

It follows the local authority’s decision to hike the tax by 15% last year.

Councillor Tomás Breathnach explained that the council’s budget deficit this year means they couldn’t decrease LPT for homeowners that have been hit hard during the pandemic.

But he says Kilkenny people will see the need for the current level to be maintained:

“I think people understand the pressures that the council are under. To be clear, it’s being retained at the level which it was up to now. So it’s just simply being retained at an existing level, there’s no increase on it from last year. And I think people will understand, generally, that given the pressure the council is under to deliver services that all will benefit from, that it’s important the council itself will have a core resource of funding.”

“I still make the point that local authority housing is exempt from it, so at least for people who have recourse to local authority housing, at least they have comfort in knowing that that remains the case” he added.

The council’s Head of Finance Martin Prendiville today advised elected members that the tax will generate income of €1.1 million.

It comes as the local authority are beginning to tackle the huge budget deficit caused by the coronavirus crisis, as reported here.