CORK COUNTY Council had succeeded in providing similar levels of service in 2009 as it did in 2008 without increasing commercial rates, while effecting savings through cutting payroll costs, Cork county manager, Martin Riordan said yesterday.
Rates income for 2009 is estimated to total €107.2 million but to date only €78.9 million has been received as, despite the fact that the council managed to keep rates at 2008 levels, many businesses, particularly hotels and restaurants, were having difficulty paying.
Mr Riordan said the council believes it will have a shortfall of some €15 million between its total expenditure of €357 million and its income by year’s end, but he said he believed this could be bridged by a number of measures.
The council had identified cuts or deferred expenditure of €7 million while cuts on payroll costs had been achieved through reducing overtime payments and reducing staff numbers without impacting hugely to date on services.
The council employs 2,480 people fulltime and has a wages bill of €152.69 million, but already some 250 part-time staff and 200 temporary contract jobs have gone. A further 30 staff have taken early retirement and 15 people have gone on career breaks.
Mr Riordan said staff levels by year’s end will be back to 2004 levels, while the council has managed to maintain its service provision. This was achieved in the face of a huge drop in development fees from a peak of €43 million in 2007 to just €10 million this year.
One of the biggest problems for the council is that it has some €140 million tied up in affordable housing, which it is unable to sell. Mr Riordan said he could not give any guarantees on any increases in service charges for 2010 as there is huge uncertainty about what the council will receive from the Local Government Fund, which this year was cut by 3.2 per cent to €51.7 million.
Mr Riordan pointed out that commentators who call for drastic public service cuts should realise that some areas of the public service had already achieved dramatic savings and efficiencies and should be given credit for this.
He said local authorities which effect savings and stay within budget while still managing to provide a decent level of services were being unfairly treated by commentators.