Fingal County Council to raise commercial rates by 2%

Businesses in north county Dublin are facing the first hike in commercial rates in almost a decade as the Fingal County Council agreed a €227 million budget for next year.

Spending will increase by €11.3 million with the allocation for housing and homelessness rising by 11 per cent to €61 million.

The decision to raise commercial rates by 2 per cent follows a number of reductions in recent years. These payments will bring in an additional €2.5 million for the council.

The Fingal area has the highest compliance rate for payment at 96 per cent as well as the lowest costs among Dublin’s four local authorities, the council said.

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Following the adoption of the proposed budget on Tuesday, council chief executive Paul Reid said it was "one of the most progressive" among local authorities and would help provide for an area that held the "fastest growing and youngest" population in the country.

In a statement, the council said next year’s spending would tackle five key areas: housing and homelessness, economic development, services, “building communities” and growing tourism.

“The 2018 Budget represents a spend of €767.25 for every one of the county’s 296,214 citizens,” it said.

“For every €1 spent by the council, an additional €1.72 is spent downstream in the economy and this means that the total contribution to economic output is over €0.5 billion.”

In September, councillors voted to reduce the rate of Local Property Tax by 10 per cent. The €1.9 million in anticipated revenue will be used to fund activity in library services, community events, the arts and homelessness initiatives.