Local Property Tax

The m ain are as o f e xpenditure increases are i n are as w ith matching f unding such as Road Grants, Group Water Scheme Grants and housing Grants.

Local Property Tax

Local Property Tax (LPT) as a funding source for Local Government replaced the General Purpose Grant funding allocation. The initial revenue allocation under this funding heading for budget 2020 was confirmed as €6.45m. Clare County Council continues to be a net contributor to the national equalization fund, an area we continue to input into with our colleagues in Local Government Finance section of the Department. The Local Government Reform Act 2014 and associated Regulations permits the Members of the Council to vary the Rate of LPT and this Council decided to adjust the LPT rate upwards by 15% in 2020, generating additional income of €1.5m. This followed considerable debate on the impact on Clare property owners as set out in Table 3 below.

Table 3

LPT Valuation Band € Number of properties in each band

€0 - €100,000 €100,001 - €150,000 €150,001 - €200,000 €200,001 - €250,000 €250,001 - €300,000

over €300,001

19,918 18,797 10,039 2,884 1,009 801

LPT at basic rate €

€90 €225 €315 €405 €495 €750

€1,500,000 additional funding of services

Per year € €13.50 €33.75 €47.25 €60.75 €74.25 €112.50

per week cent

No of Households

€0.26 €0.65 3.7 out of every 10 households 3.5 out of every 10 households

€0.91 € 1.17 € 1.43 € 2.16 1.8 out of every 10 households

The 2020 allocation from the Local Property Tax central management fund and the calculation provided by the Department of Housing Planning and Local Government (DHPLG) on the basis of this allocation is set out in Table 4 below:

Table 4

CLARECOCO - 2020 LPT ALLOCATION 2020 2019 €m €m

Total LPT Projected 2019 at Unvaried LPT Rate (100%) 10.11 10.09 Amount to National Equalisation Fund (20%) (2.02) (2.02) LPT Retained Locally 8.09 8.07 Allocated to House Grants (1.63) (1.62) LPT Retained Locally - Revenue Budget 6.46 6.45 15% Increase in LPT Rate 1.52 LPT Retained Locally - Revenue Budget Discretionary Purpose 7.97 6.45 The 15% LPT variation for 2020 of €1.5m has been allocated to p rovide additional resources for the delivery of the following services:

• €500k: The Municipal District system has been in operation since 2014 and facilitates a high degree o f l ocal community f ocused de cision making and democratic representation. Fulfilling of such roles requires resources to be available to the E lected M embers. W ith this ad ditional Income generated, €500,000 is allocated across the four Municipal Districts; bring the total budget to €1.27m.

• €250k: Funding to roads has s hown an increase in grant allocations i n recent years, however there is still a considerable demand for investment in the maintenance of the County's roads. This will facilitate the areas to carry out discretionary works as required in the Municipal District. There is also increased demand for the repair of our 14,000 public lighting infrastructure.

• €350k: The Council has approved a €10m planned maintenance programme of our Local Authority housing stock. There is also a very significant funding requirement to deal with ongoing day to day maintenance of the 2,600+ housing stock. The additional funding will provide f or much needed investment i n housing maintenance and c over loan charges for the €10m project.

• €75k: The Council operates three Housing Grant schemes – adaptation, aid for older people and mobility aids grants. In 2019 these s chemes for all non-priority app lications we re te mporarily s uspended to f acilitate the allocation of appro ved grants and to re duce the wai ting list. Grants are 80% funded by the Department with 20% funding from local sources. This additional local funding will provide for grant payments of €375k in 2020 in addition to the €2.1m budget an increase of 18%.