Property tax should fund local services - Whelan
A Chambers Ireland survey published yesterday, Wednesday March 28, indicates that the majority of businesses support the introduction of a domestic property tax.Respondents also overwhelmingly agreed that any property tax should be used to fund local rather than national services.Pat Whelan, president of Mullingar Chamber of Commerce, said: "The results of this Chamber Network survey confirm strong business support for a property tax."Businesses currently pay high commercial rates and other charges to their local authorities. A broad based property tax would ensure fairness and support the application of the user/polluter pays principle that the Chamber Network has always advocated, and which over 82% of respondents in the survey also support."It is currently unclear how the household charge is going to be distributed once collected"We must ensure that when a broad-based property tax system is established, it is used solely to fund local services."More than 90% of respondents in this survey support this view. A further 85% also believe that if they are contributing directly to their local authorities, then they should have a greater say in how their budgets are spent."Ultimately, the property tax should be a local tax for local services to support an appropriately structured and self-sustaining local government system."The Survey on Property Tax was conducted among Chamber members between March 21 and 27 2012. The report is based on the 408 responses received.Key statistics:⢠65% agree with the need for a property tax to fund local services⢠91% think the property tax should be used to fund local rather than national services⢠85% would like to have a say in how Local Authority budgets are spent⢠88% believe a property tax should be assessed on a basis that ensures regional fairness⢠83% support a property tax based on the user/polluter paying for using that service⢠64% agree that any backlog of payments on a property should be collected at the time of disposal of estate, sale or transfer