HOMEOWNERS across the county will have to pay an extra 2.5% on their local property tax (LPT) next year, bringing it to 10%, following a vote by councillors this week.
Council bosses were seeking a 7.5% increase from the current basic rate figure of 7.5%, bringing the rate to 15%, but councillors rejected that suggestion. County mayor Cllr Joe Carroll said 15% was a jump too high for homeowners.
The agreement means that homeowners with a property valued between €262,501 to €350,000 will now pay €346.50 in LPT for 2025, an increase from €339 this year, while those with a property valued less than €200,000 will pay €99, an increase of €2 on the 2024 figure.
Cork County Council’s head of finance Jeremy Canty told councillors that the Council is facing a €23.7m deficit in the 2025 budget, and that it is imperative that their income be maximised. An increase of 7.5% on the current LPT rate would generate an additional €2.6m of funding for local services in 2025.
Rising energy costs, inflation, planned maintenance of its housing stock, as well as hiring more outdoor staff, were highlighted as some of the financial challenges the local authority is facing.
‘In order to continue to provide services to communities, it is imperative our income is maximised. Cork County Council has limited ability to increase income sources across the organisation,’ he said.
He added that by varying the LPT basic rate by up to 15% in 2025, they will retain 100% of the additional income collected in the local authority area.
But county mayor Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) proposed an increase of 2.5% to bring the rate to 10%. Cllr Alan Coleman (Ind) agreed that it would be highly unfair to ‘go the whole hog’ of 15% on county homeowners.
‘As a county we are not getting the same funding that other counties are getting. We are way down the pecking order. We should push our case nationally,’ said Cllr Coleman.
Cllr Noel O’Donovan (FG) agreed, and said the Council needs to get more national funding, while Cllr Peter O’Donoghue (Ind) said that people can’t take anymore and called for the €13bn due from Apple to be used to support the people of Cork county.
Councillors eventually voted 42 to 8 to increase the LPT by 2.5% from 7.5% rate to 10% rate.
