Cork and Clare councils vote to cut property tax

GORDON DEEGAN

Cork County Council has voted to cut the local property tax by 5 per cent for next year, a year after cutting it by 10 per cent.

Councillors voted by 32 to 15 to cut the tax by 5 per cent following a proposal by Independents which was backed by Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin but opposed by Fine Gael and Labour.

Fine Gael, which has 16 members on the 56-member council, argued for no reduction in the tax, which it said could fund services such as hedge-cutting and drain-clearing.

Progressive tax

Cllr Kevin Murphy of Fine Gael said it was a progressive tax in that wealthier people living in more expensive houses paid a greater amount and it should be retained as it is.

Sinn Féin, which has eight members on the council, said it was opposed to the tax and were seeking its abolition but, as an interim measure, would seek a 15 per cent reduction.

FF defeat

Fianna Fáil, which has 16 members on the council, proposed cutting the tax by 10 per cent again next year, but this was defeated by 28 votes to 13.

Members of Clare County Council yesterday voted to retain the local authority’s 15 per cent reduction in the council’s property tax rate.

As a result of the move to retain the reduction, the council will lose out on revenues of about €1.45 million.

At a meeting yesterday in Ennis, 14 councillors, largely made up of Fianna Fáil members and a number of Independents, voted for the retention of the 15 per cent reduction. The councillors voted for the retention after a mainly Fine Gael-sponsored proposal to reduce the property tax by 7.5 per cent was defeated.