Sir, – Cllr Dave Quinn writes (Letters, October 17th) that in relation to the debate surrounding the decision taken by the majority of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown councillors on October 10th to impose a 15 per cent reduction in the amount of local property tax (LPT) to be paid, that a “0 per cent local adjustment was proposed to be applied in tandem with a pilot residential support grant scheme.” He asserts that this would have raised an additional €8 million approximately in extra revenue collected from local residents in tandem with a grant scheme allowing residents meeting certain criteria (with house price involved being lower than €700,000 and income not exceeding the average industrial wage of €45,760) to claw back essentially close to all of the value of the extra property tax charge in real terms that would have applied.
Some credit should be given for the imagination to suggest a pilot residential support grant scheme system but the foundation for the figures proposed was based on a national estimate of the numbers of income earners earning less than the average industrial wage being at 78 per cent.
The median household income in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown as per 2016 CSO figures was the highest in the country at €66,203, in contrast to a national median household income of €45,256, so estimates in terms of gauging applicability for what would be a locally applied grant scheme should have reflected local income figures. While there may be a presumption that those on higher incomes in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown could pay more, these people are often in the “squeezed middle” category, paying higher mortgages than elsewhere.
Second, the estimated redemption rate by qualifying residents of the support grant suggested by Cllr Quinn was between 7 per cent and 15 per cent which seemed to be low.
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The real issue this year surrounding the local property tax in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown is that although for the first time since its introduction all of the revenues will be retained locally, it was indicated during the aforementioned council meeting that the council is receiving a negligible net benefit as other grants have been proportionally reduced compared to previous years. This issue was also highlighted in a recent meeting of Dublin City Council by Cllr James Geoghegan. Following my questioning, it emerged that social housing grants paid to the council in particular should be at higher levels.
The ending of the equalisation of local property tax this year (which ceased the practice whereby 20 per cent of the tax collected was not invested locally but instead allocated to a Government central fund) was originally meant to herald a boon of extra income for the council but as with Dublin City Council pressure should be placed to ensure the intended spirit of this benefit is realised in real terms. – Yours, etc,
Cllr JOHN KENNEDY,
Fine Gael,
Dún Laoghaire
Rathdown County
Council Offices,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.