Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 November 2014
141. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if the moneys formerly paid in respect of the since-abolished borough and town councils from the local government fund and through other State grants were factored into the calculations for the awarding of moneys from the equalisation portion of the local property tax for 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44696/14]
View answerI assume that the Question refers to general purpose grants from the Local Government Fund. General purpose grants are a contribution, from my Department, towards meeting the cost to local authorities of providing a reasonable level of services to their customers. 2015 will see the ending of the General Purpose Grant payments and the introduction of Local Property Tax (LPT) being paid to local authorities through the Local Government Fund.
The amount to be paid to local authorities from the Local Government Fund for general purpose grants in 2014 recognises the removal of water related costs from local authorities to Irish Water. The general purpose grant allocations to County Councils in 2014 are “county at large” allocations in respect of the County Council and any former Borough or Town Councils within the county.
Given that local authorities vary significantly from one another in terms of size, population, public service demands, infrastructure and income sources, the Government has decided that no local authority will receive less income from LPT in 2015 than they received from the Local Government Fund in 2014. Certain local authorities, with stronger property bases, will receive greater levels of funding from local retention of LPT in 2015 than they received from the Local Government Fund in 2014.
My Department has advised local authorities of their provisional Local Property Tax allocations from the Local Government Fund for 2015. 80% of LPT will be retained locally to fund vital public services in 2015. The remaining 20% will be re-distributed to provide top-up funding to certain local authorities that have lower property tax bases due to the variance in property values across the State.
Local authorities also had the power to vary LPT rates by up to 15% for 2015 before 30 September 2014; a decision to reduce rates will result in a reduction in LPT allocation to that local authority for 2015 to the value of the tax income foregone.
