Councillors vote to maintain 15 per cent reduction on Property Tax

Councillors vote to maintain 15 per cent reduction on Property Tax

By Laura Lyne

SDCC-WebLOCAL Property Tax bills for 2016 will keep a 15 per cent reduction after South Dublin County Council voted in favour of keeping the tax at its current rate.

Councillors voted in favour of keeping the reduction with just one councillor voting against the reduction, Independent councillor Paul Gogarty.

During the debate about the LPT, Cllr Gogarty stated that there was “no logic” in members voting in support of the 15 per cent reduction and that the money the council would earn could be used on community facilities and to tackle the homeless crisis in the county.

It was confirmed that the 15 per cent reduction would see a loss of €4.6 million in LPT funding to the council.

The reduction was supported by a number of councillors including Sinn Féin’s Cathal King who said that it would result in “more cash in people’s pockets” that could be put into the local economy.

Independent councillor Francis Timmons called it an “unfair and unjust tax” with independent councillor Guss O’Connell noting that “20 per cent” of the tax leaves the county and becomes part of “general taxation”.

Renua councillor Ronan McMahon said the tax should be “revisited and revised” while People Before Profit councillor Nicky Coules said the tax “needs to be abolished”.

Fine Gael councillor William Lavelle said “further taxes are not appropriate for the county” while his party colleague Colm Brophy said that the reduction “makes sense on every level” and “puts money in people’s pockets”.

Anti-Austerity Alliance councillor Mick Murphy said that LPT “hits ordinary residents” and that the Irish state should “go collect tax from the likes of Apple” with his party colleague Kieran Mahon stating that the cost of council budgets and the impact LPT reductions have on them could be “more of an issue as time goes on”.

Dublin City Council also voted to reduce the Local Property Tax by 15 per cent in 2016, despite advisement by chief executive Owen Keegan to councillors to not implement any adjustment to the standard rate.

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