Council to take hit from decarbonisation
The accelerated decarbonisation of Bord na Móna and the closure of power stations could have serious implications for Offaly County Council's income from commercial rates, senior officials have warned.
In the Draft 2020 Budget Report, which was published ahead of next Monday's annual budget meeting, chief executive Anna Marie Delaney stated that she is “concerned that there is a threat to future rates income as a result of the decarbonisation agenda”. Ms Delaney also warned that “there are some challenges posed to rates income due to successful valuation appeals and appeals pending”.
In his report, the council's acting Head of Finance Tom Mawe revealed that 64 revaluations have been appealed to the Valuations Tribunal.
“These appeals are ongoing and proceeding through the valuation tribunal very slowly, due to the numbers of appeals nationally. This represents a very considerable threat to the income base of the council as the small numbers of appeals that have been decided, have mostly been upheld resulting in a loss of income to the council, which could only be reâ€instated by a rates increase.”
However, despite these threats posed by the decarbonisation of Bord na Móna and the revaluation appeals, the council's executive recommended that there would be no rates increase in 2020.
Offaly County Council's overall expenditure is set to increase by €4.6m from €59.8m to €68.4m, most of which will come from increases in funding from central government.
The decision to increase the Local Property Tax (LPT) by 15%, while unpopular with many, will generate an increase in revenue of €742,378. This additional income has been ring fenced to provide matching funding for local development projects.
Offaly's total allocation from the government's LPT fund will be €8,398,666, which accounts for 13% of the council's overall funding. Forty percent of the council's overall income comes from government grant and subsidies, 22% from rates income, 19% from goods and services and 6% for Irish Water.