Councillors get €800k slush fund to approve 15% hike in property tax
Galway homeowners face an increase in their property tax from next year after all but six county councillors voted to hike the rate by 15% annually for the next five years.
The first rate jump since 2017 will add an extra €2.4m to the county coffers a year – in addition to more than €5m extra from the Local Property Tax (LPT) for Co Galway from 2025 following a national review.
The group of councillors who voted against the move will be frozen out of a pot of money worth €800,000 that they can allocate to their pet projects in a deal brokered by the ruling pact with Chief Executive Liam Conneally.
That incited Independent Ireland representative Noel Thomas to liken it to “coercion, bribery and blackmail”.
In pleading for the increase, Mr Conneally said the LPT rate increase can be used to leverage up to €8m in national investment as almost all projects require the local authority to put up one fifth in match funding.
To maintain services at the same level as 2024, the Council was facing an overspend of €10.8m, which meant that services would have to slashed to balance the books next year.
High level master planning for the Airport and IDA sites, meeting housing targets, developing innovation hubs and improving town facilities all required significant spending.
Pension and payroll increases prompted by national pay agreements would also see big increases in outgoings.
“Now we have to pay for it,” Mr Conneally stated.
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