Councillor John Paul Feeley has welcomed the decision of the Council not to increase Local Property Tax by 7.5% for 2019 taken at the September Meeting of Cavan County Council.
‘The Local Property Tax since its introduction in 2014 has taken over € 17,750,000 out of the pockets of households in County Cavan. Many people think that Cavan County Council has received a huge funding boost since the introduction of the LPT. The LPT has not provided Cavan County Council with any additional money for roads, footpaths, lights, community facilities or economic development. It has simply been used by Central Government to replace the Exchequer contribution to the Local Government Fund.’
Furthermore, when he asked about the current financial state of Cavan County Council and in particular the income received todate in 2018 from the NPPR Councillor Feeley was informed that over €800,000 had been received for the period from the 1st January 2018 to the end of July.
‘When adopting the Budget for 2018 we had great difficulty securing agreement from the Executive to put in a figure of € 400,000 as income from the NPPR. It now transpires that we have already exceeded that estimate by 100% and I believe it will be closer to € 1.2 million before the year is over. Given the foregoing, I and my colleagues in Fianna Fáil fail to see the need to increase the burden on households. We also see that given the position of the Council that there is no need to increase commercial rates in 2019’
ENDS
John Paul Feeley
Fianna Fáil Member of Cavan County Council
