Rates still backbone of council cash

DESPITE a welcome cut to the commercial rates in the city for the second year running, Limerick still gets the majority of its funding from the charge. According to the city council’s annual budget report, 37 per cent of the money the city council has to spend comes from the rates paid by local businesses. Grants provide 17 per cent of funding, the same amount as charges other than water, which accounts for 11 per cent of income. Water charges provide just over a tenth of the council’s income at 11 per cent while local government funding accounts for just 10 per cent – €8.2 million of all money in the council’s coffers.

A related pensions levy brings this figure to €9.5 million
The city council’s tenants provide an 8 per cent contribution to the funding of services.
The Department of the Environment increased its allocation to the council by 3.72 per cent. This makes the 2013 figure similar to the allocation from central government in 2011.
City manager, Conn Murray said that it is “uncertain at this stage what impact the introduction of the Property Tax in the second half of the year will have on Local Government funding into the future.
The council won’t know what its allocation of finding for road grants is until the new year, but the Mr Murray is not optimistic, pointing to year on year declines since 2009.
“It’s unclear what the allocation for 2013 will be, as  the road grants allocation is notified in the 1st quarter of each year. Any further reductions will impact on the roads programme  during 2013,” he said.