Tipp gets largest property tax allocation in the State
Rates on commercial properties in County Tipperary next year are to remain unchanged as part of the county council’s 2024 budget adopted by elected members at a meeting in the Civic Offices in Nenagh.
An increase of 5 per cent in the Annual Rate of Valuation voted on by councillors in County Tipperary that applied in the current year will remain in place next year as the local authority tries to maximise its income to pay for the provision of vital services and amenities in towns and villages throughout the county.
A 10 per cent increase in the variation of the Local Property Tax voted through twelve months ago by councillors will apply again in 2024. The hike has helped bolster revenue, with the council’s CEO, Joe MacGrath, saying the income from the tax is essential for the local authority to maintain existing levels of service, and to provide new services and amenities spanning 117 kilometres from Rathcabbin in the north of the county to Carrick on Suir in the south.
Addressing elected members as he introduced his budget 2024 proposals last Friday’s, Mr MacGrath said Tipperary will receive the highest allocation of any local authority from the National Property Tax pot next year. The funding to be received by the council from the national fund, together with the funds realised by the levy in Tipperary, will amount to a total of just over €28.5 million.
Mr MacGrath said the Annual Rate of Valuation for the council for 2024 will remain unchanged at 0.2015 which, he pointed out, was one of the lowest rates applied by any local authority in the country. Some 18 of the total of 31 county councils in the State have rates that are higher than Tipperary.
LONG DEBATE
Councillors debated the budget proposals for over five hours without a break, starting at 10am and sitting right through until after 3pm, before heading for a much-needed lunch in the canteen in the council’s Nenagh headquarters. In the end there was little contention in relation to the figures presented. Not even a vote was required as the number of elected members who opposed Mr MacGrath’s funding proposals could not match the strength in numbers of elected members from government parties, and others, who supported the budget document.
At the outset Mr MacGrath said the objective of his budget proposals for 2024 was to seek to maintain current levels of expenditure across all sectors under the council’s control over the coming year.
He said his proposals for spending over the coming 12 months also took into account funds that were needed to help pay for ambitious projects being promoted by the council for improve amenities and services in towns and villages. These included a plan to transform the old Rialto Cinema building in Nenagh into a digital and enterprise hub.
Among other headline projects locally that the council needed funds to provide included the multi-million plan to develop of a Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Energy on a 10 hectare brownfield site at Martyrs Road. Works would also include the transformation of the site for multiple modern urban uses that will include a town park and a “Friar Street Civic Plaza”.
historic quarter
Funds also generated from the the 2024 budget plan will help pay for the planned regeneration of the Nenagh Historic and Cultural Quarter that will include enhancement works on the old town Gaol, the castle and Banba Square.
Included in the budget of expenditure that runs to in excess of €234 million are the creation of new town plans to enhance the urban cores in locations such as Nenagh, Roscrea and Thurles.