Under Irish law there is a distinct separation of function between the valuation of rateable property and the setting and collection of commercial rates. The amount of rates payable by a ratepayer in any calendar year is a product of the valuation set by the Commissioner of Valuation, multiplied by the Annual Rate on Valuation (ARV) decided annually by the elected members of each local authority. The Commissioner of Valuation is independent in carrying out his functions under the Valuation Acts and I as Minister for Justice and Equality have no role in this regard. As the Deputy will be aware, the annual setting of the ARV is a reserved function of the elected members of each local authority and the Commissioner of Valuation has no function in that regard.
Having a modern valuation base is very important for the levying of commercial rates on a fair and equitable basis across all commercial sectors, including units selling petrol. This has been the policy of successive Governments for many years and is the express purpose of the National Revaluation Programme now being rolled out by the Valuation Office. The revaluation provisions in the Valuation Acts 2001 to 2015 provide for the revaluation of all rateable property within each rating authority area in order to reflect changes in value due to economic factors, differential movements in property values or other external factors such as infrastructural changes in the vicinity of a property and changes in the local business environment. The National Revaluation Programme is the first revaluation of all rating authority areas in over 150 years, and is being conducted across the country on a phased basis. This is a welcome development which is long overdue and on which considerable progress has been made. Revaluation is an important instrument in redressing historical anomalies in relation to commercial rates for both urban and rural properties and between particular classes of property within a local authority area. I am advised by the Commissioner of Valuation that the general outcome of the revaluations conducted to date by the Valuation Office has been that about 60% of ratepayers have had their liability for rates reduced following a revaluation and about 40% had an increase, a pattern that is expected to be replicated elsewhere as the programme advances.
The current phase of the revaluation programme (known as "REVAL 2017") covers the revaluation of all rateable properties in counties Longford, Leitrim, Roscommon, Westmeath, Offaly, Kildare, Sligo, Carlow and Kilkenny where a revaluation is being undertaken for the first time since the nineteenth century. It also includes the second revaluation of South Dublin County Council area. Revaluation in these counties is expected to be completed in September 2017 and become effective for rating purposes from 2018 onwards. The Commissioner's intention is to then extend the revaluation programme to other counties.
Following revaluation, there is a much closer and uniform relationship between contemporary rental values of all rateable properties in a local authority area and their respective commercial rates liabilities. In essence, the exercise aims to ensure that each ratepayer bears a fair share of the rates burden relative to the modern rental value of the property that they occupy. This applies to service stations and retail fuel outlets as it does to hotels, retail outlets, industrial units and all other categories of property. A key element of revaluation is to remove anomalies in the system where they exist and establish fair and equitable relativities between the various property classifications. Having regard to the revaluations conducted to date, it would be expected that many small businesses in rural Ireland will see their rates liability decrease following a revaluation.
The basic premise under valuation legislation is that all buildings and lands used or developed for any purpose, including constructions affixed thereto, are rateable unless expressly exempted under Schedule 4 of the Valuation Act 2001, as amended. I am informed that the Valuation Office values service stations and retail fuel outlets by reference to their turnover and throughput and their rates liability should, accordingly, take account of the trading circumstances of the particular service station, whether rural or urban, as referred to by the Deputy.
While acknowledging the important contribution which service stations with associated retail outlets make to the rural economy, there are no plans for special treatment of such stations under the Valuation Acts, which maintain the long-standing position that all property occupied and used for commercial enterprises are liable for rates.
Pending the revaluation of all of the commercial properties in a local authority area, revisions of the valuation of individual properties will continue to be carried out by the Valuation Office. The revision process provides for the updating of valuations on the existing valuation list so that new properties can be valued and added to the list, improved and extended properties can have their valuations updated and properties that have been demolished in whole or in part can have their valuations amended or struck out as appropriate.
There is an extensive system of redress available to those ratepayers who are dissatisfied with the proposed valuations or with any particular on the certificate relating to their property. In this regard, a dissatisfied person can make representations to the Valuation Office within 40 days of the date of issue of the certificate. The Valuation Office will consider the representations and may or may not change the proposed valuation depending on the circumstances of each individual property. If any ratepayer is still dissatisfied with the final valuation to be placed on their property following consideration of the representations, they have a right to lodge a formal appeal with the Valuation Tribunal, which is an independent statutory body established for the purpose of hearing appeals against decisions of the Commissioner of Valuation.
