Household charge income 'still short'

Income generated for local councils from the €100 household charge is still falling well short of the official target of €160 million, according to the latest figures.

As of last Friday, the total number of properties registered with payments was 1,088,597, bringing in revenue of €111,448,681 for the Local Government Management Agency.

The latest figures fall some €48.5 million short of the €160 million the Government anticipated it would raise for local authority funding with the introduction of the charge, which is to be exacted on eligible properties.

While the income gathered from the charge has now exceeded the €100 million mark, about 500,000 homeowners have yet to register to pay the charge.

The LGMA, which is administering the charge, said approximately 700 properties were awaiting resolution of queries and a further 23,224 had been registered for a waiver as of noon on Friday.

In July, warning letters were sent by city and county councils to homeowners who had failed to pay.

A total of 1,112,521 properties have now been registered with the agency out of the estimated 1.6 million properties that are eligible for the charge.

The household charge is intended to replace the exchequer element of the Local Government Fund, set up in 1999 as one of the funding sources from central government to local government and fines are likely to be levied on those who fail to pay the charge.