CLLR. DAVY HYNES
INDEPENDENT Cllr Davy Hynes had a motion to keep the LPT rate at the same level defeated at the meeting of Wexford County Council.
He said: ‘While over the last week the main parties have been busily emphasising the extra money this 5 per cent hike in the Local Property Tax will do for Wexford, I proposed we do not raise the LPT this year and most of the Independents agreed with me. Many of the people paying this LPT have not seen an increase in their incomes for eight years, like OAPs (apart for a €3 increase a week last year) and any further increase this year will surely cancel these modest increases out.’
He said the former funding source for the council since 1979 when Fianna Fail got rid of domestic rates was the General Purposes Grant.
‘ This money is still being collectd from our taxes. It was approximately €11.8 million in 2014 when the new Local Government Act 2014 was forced on local authorities.
‘Added to that there are major problems harmonising rates since the town councils were abolished. The question was asked of Tony Dempsey on the radio, was any of the LPT money going to Irish Water and he correctly answered no, but what he didn’t say was most of our taxes that used to come to the council’s €11.8 million are now going to Irish Water, along with a lot of other monies like car tax!’
Cllr Hynes added: ‘Whist I have great regard for the current CEO Tom Enright in what he is attempting to do for Wexford, I believe we are going to continue into the future to have difficulty as a council providing the services that in a modern society the people are entitled to and were promised in ‘Putting People First’ (which ushered in the 2014 Local Government Act that Minister Phil Hogan produced before he took off for Europe) and in balancing the budget year on year with the current funding model for local Government.
‘All the rest of the members almost unanimously supported my motion last year and truth be told many of the officials know this as well.
‘ The motion called on the government to urgently review the funding model as it was totally inadequate and not fit for purpose to meet the needs of counties like Wexford. I think we in Wexford will continue to struggle to service Wexford and its people if we don’t get a root and branch revision by government of local authority funding and also I might add restore town councils like Wexford which incidentally lived within budget year on year unlike the current situation.’