Rates freeze likely for Offaly firms in 2025

Businesses in Offaly could see no increase in their commercial rates next year, with the council's draft budget document proposing that the current rates remain in place until the end of 2025.

The proposal is included in the council's draft budget for 2025 published ahead of its statutory budget meeting on Monday afternoon.

The draft budget shows expected expenditure of over €97 million next year. This will allow for the continuation of current service levels, despite the challenges of rising costs, along with some prioritised additional spending in areas such as housing maintenance, tourism, biodiversity and greenways.

While the budget has been drafted on the basis that allocations received this year will continue into the new year, the council's Chief Executive, Anna Marie Delaney sounded a note of caution in relation to the loss of rates income experienced as a result of the closure of West Offaly Power in Shannonbridge.

Central government funding for 2025 to compensate for the loss of the rates rom Shannonbridge has been confirmed, but the council's draft budget warns that the Department has reiterated that this is “unlikely to continue into the long-term” and adds that the situation needs to be managed “in order to ensure financial resilience for the council, and to minimise the consequences of any sudden shocks.”

In relation to the Annual Rate of Valuation, the Chief Executive has recommended no proposed increase, but has proposed that a review be carried out into a potential rates waiver scheme and the possibility of increasing the rates in advance of the 2026 Budget.

As council members recently voted to retain the 15% increase in the basic rate of local property tax in 2025, there will be no increase in Local Property Tax being charged to householders for 2025 when compared to 2024 with the retained LPT being ringfenced for matched funding on major infrastructural projects that will benefit the county.

The draft budget has revealed that 47% of the income of Offaly County Council comes from “local sources” and 53% from the Exchequer. The Chief Executive said the local authority is “congnisant of the need to maximise collection levels” and has pledged to make “every effort” to work with ratepayers, tenants and mortage holders across the county who are in difficulty “to identify solutions and reach positive outcomes” and adds that “early engagement” is very important.

Among the key changes to expenditure in 2025 are: an increase of €150,000 in Housing Adaptation Grants; significant increases in the housing budgets; increases in the roads and street sweeping programmes; increased provision for the maintenance of the 72km of Greenways in place in Offaly; increased provision for libraries; an additional €25,000 towards tourism and events and increased provision for IT and digitisation initiatives, including cyber security costs.