Recommendation to raise LPT rejected by Cllrs

Local Property Tax rates are set to remain the same next year after councillors rejected the executive’s recommendation for a 10 per cent increase.

Speaking during a presentation to councillors, the council’s director of finance Jimmy Dalton said that while it was "not useful" to get into discussions about what services will be affected if the LPT isn’t raised, he outlined a range "challenges" that the local authority is set to face in the coming year, including: energy prices, inflation, public sector pay, no "buoyancy" from LPT, climate action and contributing to the running costs of Fleadh 2023.

According to the council’s own figures, 49.3% of homeowners live in Band 1 properties – meaning that they are valued at below €200,000; 28.9% live in Band 2 properties; 14.5% live in Band 3 properties; and 7.3% live in Band 4 properties.

If councillors had rubber-stamped the executive’s recommendation, homeowners in Band 1 (€0-€200,000) would have had to pay an additional €9, taking their LPT charges for 2023 up from €90 to €99; homeowners in Band 2 (€200,001 to €262,500) would have had to pay an additional €22, to take their charges up to €247; Band 3 (€262,502 to €350,000) would have had to pay an extra €31, to take their changes up €346; and Band 4 (over €350,000) homeowners would have faced an increase of at least €40 more, taking their annual payments up to (€445+).

Last year, councillors decided to reject the executive’s recommendation to increase the LPT by 15 per cent. In 2020, councillors voted to increase the tax by 15 per cent.