Council to spend extra €580,000 raised from Property Tax hike directly in Tipperary communities

A large majority of Tipperary County Council’s elected members have approved a 5% rise in the Local Property Tax to be levied on more than 64,000 homeowners in the county over the next three years.

The 5% hike in the LPT for the years 2025, 2026 and 2027 was approved by a vote of councillors at the Council’s September meeting in Clonmel on Monday.

The increase will bring the LPT levy for Tipperary 15% above the basic LPT rate and will generate an extra €583,045 revenue for the Council next year alone compared to this year.

This extra income will be invested directly in assisting the operation of council owned and supported leisure and arts centres along with community groups, projects, festivals and cultural events t supported by the Council’s General Municipal Allocation fund.

A portion of the extra funding will also be spent on Climate Action and other specific council projects.

Council management at the outset proposed a 5% increase in the LPT for its five-year term. The local authority’s Head of Finance Mark Connolly argued that fixing the 5% increase for the five years would bring certainty for council funding streams.

A debate followed in which Sinn Féin and a number of Independent councillors voiced strong opposition to the increase.

Some proposed the Council revert to the LPT base rate while others argued for the levy to be retained at this year’s level, which is 10% above the base rate.

In the end, councillors approved by 30 votes to eight a proposal tabled by Fianna Fáil Cllr Michael Smith and seconded by Fine Gael Cllr Phyll Bugler to sanction a 5% increase on the 2024 LPT rate for the next three years.

The Council’s Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Labour councillors voted in favour of the proposal as did some Independents.

Those who voted against were Sinn Féin councillors David Dunne and Annem arie Ryan, Workers & Unemployment Action Group Cllr Pat English and Independent Cllrs Niall Dennehy, Máirín McGrath, Richie Molloy, Andy Moloney and Seamus Morris.

Cashel Independent Cllr Liam Browne abstained while Nenagh Independent Cllr Michael O'Meara was absent for the vote.

Mr Connolly’s presentation showed the 5% increase will add an extra €4.50 to the €99 LPT levy currently paid by the 57.74% of Tipperary home owners in the lowest band of homes valued up to €200,000.

The 24.8% of home owners on the second lowest property valuation band of €200,001 to €262,501 will see their €247.50 LPT levy rise by €11.25 next year.

And the 12.1% of Tipperary home owners in the next band of €262,501 to €350,000 properties whose LPT levy for 2024 was €346.50 will pay an extra €15.75 next year.

Mr Connolly said the 5% increase will amount to an average increase of less than €10 per year, less than €1 per month and 19c per week for around 95% of home owners in the county.

Responding to councillors, he explained the Council had very limited means of raising income and if it didn’t increase the LPT it would result in a reduction in council services because the revenue the Council currently takes in doesn’t stretch as far as previously.

He pointed out a Council resolution to increase the LPT by 5% could be revoked by councillors this time next year.

Council CEO Sinead Carr said the operational costs of running leisure and art centres, particularly their energy costs, have gone up.

She noted the extra LPT revenue will be spent directly on projects, activities and initiatives in communities across the county and “not a penny” will go into the council’s operational costs or staff.

Sinn Féin Cllr David Dunne was the first councillor to call for the county’s LPT levy to revert to the base rate. If the 5% increase was approved, he strongly advocated for it to brought back before the Council again every year for debate and approval.

“We don’t know where the economy will be in five years time. It could be in deep depression,” he argued.

Newcastle Independent Cllr Máirín McGrath said she voted for the LPT rate that was 10% above the base rate last year but considered a 15% increase above the base rate a “huge ask”.

She complained that tax payers were being asked to fork out this money because the Council’s funding from central government was constantly decreasing.

Clonmel WUAG Cllr Pat English reminded councillors when the first increase above the LPT base rate was approved in 2019 they were told it was a “once off” but it was in place ever since.

He said home owners are already paying a vast amount of tax on their homes through Stamp Duty and argued the Council should instead be seeking extra funding from central government.

Sinn Féin Cllr Annemarie Ryan from Tipperary Town, meanwhile, called on the council to instead focus its efforts on collecting the taxes it levied on the owners of derelict and vacant properties.

Independent Cllr Richie Molloy said he couldn’t support the increase given the extra costs in fuel and other taxes homeowners are already paying.

In tabling the motion to vary the basic LPT rate by 15% resulting in a 5% rise in the tax for the next three years, Cllr Michael Smith said the revenue raised will go directly to benefit communities across the county including festivals and cultural groups.

He urged councillors to be responsible and approve the increase.

Independent Cllr Andy Moloney tabled a counter proposal to retain the LPT levy at the 2024 level of 10% above the basic rate, which was seconded by Cllr Molloy.

But a vote wasn’t taken on this motion or Cllr Dunne’s proposal to revert the LPT to the base rate as the FF/FG proposal was approved by an overwhelming majority of councillors.