Advertisement

Dublin City councillors vote to keep 15% cut to local property tax

Dublin City councillors have voted to keep a 15% local property tax cut. While the Green Party an...
Stephen McNeice
Stephen McNeice

21.45 21 Sep 2020


Share this article


Dublin City councillors vote t...

Dublin City councillors vote to keep 15% cut to local property tax

Stephen McNeice
Stephen McNeice

21.45 21 Sep 2020


Share this article


Dublin City councillors have voted to keep a 15% local property tax cut.

While the Green Party and Labour had called for a 'moderate increase' to the rate due to the council facing a €39 million deficit, councillors voted by 34-21 to retain the lower rate.

It means the LPT will now stay at the same rate as last year in the capital city.

Advertisement

Although the Government sets a basic rate for the LPT, local authorities have the annual ability to increase or decrease the rate by up to 15%.

Tweeting after this evening's vote, Fianna Fáil Councillor Racheal Batten suggested the tax is unfair and does not assess people's ability to pay.

She said: "At a time when Dublin citizens are going through so much hardship we could not support an increase."

Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon, meanwhile, said the tax cut will mean €12 million less for the council's funds - arguing that it will "disproportionately benefit wealthy homeowners".

He said: "Never mind the arguments we have every year - this is a particularly bizarre year to say 'what I think the city needs is a very small tax cut'?

"This just seems like a really bad year to undercut the funding for public services."

Labour's Darragh Moriarty, meanwhile, said: "This pandemic has shown us we need to invest more in our city, not less.

"Labour and Greens tonight called for a moderate increase to the LPT but all other parties gave a tax cut to well-off homeowners."

It comes after the Finance Minister last week deferred the revaluation date for the LPT to November 2021 - meaning households will not face an increased bill for 2021.

Main image: File photo of Dublin City Council offices. Picture by: Brian Lawless/PA Archive/PA Images

Share this article


Read more about

Dublin City Council Local Property Tax

Most Popular