NEXT week a Government report will again put the spotlight on residential property tax.

It may be that its days are numbered, as the housing market boom pushes more and more modest dwellings into the property tax net.

Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats view it as a promising election issue.

And the question of property taxation and local authority funding is the subject of the report just presented to the Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin.

The first phase of the report by KPMG consultants examines local authority budgets for areas such as roads and water schemes in the years ahead.

The second will look at where this money will come from.

Opposition parties are sure to use the local government funding debate as another platform to call for the abolition of the RPT.

It will be difficult for Fine Gael to promise anything other than that with an election due next year.

Because the tax raises only £11 million annually, Fine Gael will have problems if it argues that dropping it would be financially reckless.

The Labour Party's position is more difficult. Labour is keenly aware of its need to appeal to two disparate constituencies, its core working class support and its new middle class supporters, who are most affected by the tax.

Few if any Labour TDs are willing to stand up to defend it. Labour is also keen to stress that if the domestic rates which existed in the mid 1970s were still around the average household would now pay £1,200 to £2,000 a year.

Opponents hold that the tax is unfair because it affects mostly those living in Dublin: 14,325 people pay over £7.3 million in Dublin compared to only six in Leitrim, who pay £2,215.

But cities outside the capital are beginning to feel the effects of the tax.

Mr Danno Heaslip of Heaslip Auctioneers in Galway says all "decent" family homes in Galway now have what he prefers to call "an address tax".

As controversy increases about RPT's future, Mr Howlin received the KPMG report two days ago. He will publish it "as soon as possible".

The report examines how over seas local authorities are funded some form of property tax is often used for that purpose.

It also raises major questions about local authority funding, so alternatives to water charges, which raise £55 million, are also likely to be scrutinised.

Government action on the report is unlikely before the next election.

For the moment, Government is reluctant to shelve the RPT until a substitute is found. And that is not easy, as demonstrated by the opposition to funding local government through local charges has shown.

Neither Fine Gael nor Labour will be keen to embark on a potentially dangerous reform of local authority funding in the run up to an election.

Homes valued at £101,000 or more and where family income is £30,100 or more are liable for the tax.

Last year houses valued at £94,000 combined with a household income of £29,500 came within the net.

The tax is payable on the difference between the market value of the residential property and the exemption limit of £101,000.

The tax payable is also reduced by 10 per cent in respect of each qualifying child.