Council not to return a revenue surplus in 2019
SLIGO County Council has passed a budget of 65million Euro for 2019.
Contrary to the previous four years however, it will not return a Revenue Surplus next year due to increased development, economic activity and extra statutory obligations.
This will go against a requirement under the Financial Plan agreed with the Department of Local Government to reduce the Revenue deficit each year.
To counteract this, the Council plans to use its existing land bank to build more public houses to meet the growing demand.
The Council will next year have a deficit of 20million Euro, still the highest deficit of a local authority anywhere in the country.
Council Chief Executive Ciaran Hayes told members that some of the extra financial pressures facing the Council next year include wage increases agreed under the Haddington Road Agreement, staff returning from career breaks, the local elections next May (which they have budgeted €100,000 for) and public lighting.
Mr Hayes said that Sligo was “entering a period of sustained growth” which “puts extra demand on resources.”
He told members that initial discussions with the Department and Minister of State Damien English had taken place and the reaction had been “quite positive.”
“If successful, it will be a major shift regarding the Financial Plan,” Mr Hayes told members.
He insisted Sligo was “in a very different place now than in the six months prior to the last local elections” and pointed to Sligo’s status as a Growth Centre for the North West.
“We’ve had 1,200 job announcements, an uplift in tourism and our financial position has been stabilised,” he concluded.
Head of Finance Marie Whelan confirmed that the Council couldn’t produce a surplus for 2019: “We could only balance the books, not come up with a surplus. We’ve a very busy year next year. We tried to provide the bare essentials to staff who need to carry out their functions in each division,” she said.