ANY move by City Hall to increase the commercial rate levied on the business sector or to introduce service charges in the upcoming Budget, will meet with opposition, warns Cllr Joe Leddin.
Referring to the city manager’s confirmation that 45 per cent of rates for this year, remain uncollected, he said that with just three months remaining, the city business sector is faced with grave difficulties and challenges.
“One only has to look around the city centre to see at first hand the amount of retail units that are now vacant due to the downturn in the economy and reduced spending power of consumers, which would make it an act of sheer madness to even contemplate any rate increases”.
For the past three years, the councillors have voted for the city manager’s reduction in the commercial rate, making Limerick the first city to act on this initiative.
Contending that despite the anticipated reductions in government grants for next year, the council should seriously consider reducing the commercial rate to help businesses remain open and maintain jobs, Cllr Leddin said that very difficult decisions will have to be made in agreeing a budget for the running of the city in 2010.
“However, those decisions must not be targeted on the low paid or vulnerable people, such as the elderly or children. In terms of the provision of essential public services, efforts must be made to claw back a significant percentage of the outstanding 3.1million euro owed to the city council in development levies, arising from previously granted commercial developments”.
With Fine Gael’s majority of 10 of the 17 seats on Limerick City Council, Cllr Leddin referred to their previous role in the privatisation of services and the introduction of service charges.
‘We Labour councillors will be seeking a detailed and thorough analysis of all planned expenditure and costs before the process of agreeing a budget for 2010 begins,” he warned.
