Fingal calls for property tax powers for local authorities

Fingal County Council has called on the Minister for the Environment to let local authorities reduce the Local Property Tax (LPT) rate by more than 15 per cent.

Property tax is based on the value of a residential property as declared by the owners on May 1st, 2013. The rate will be reviewed after houses are revalued in 2016.

Local authorities had the option of reducing the LPT by up to 15 per cent but councillors in Fingal are concerned that property prices will have increased so much by 2016 as to make these reductions irrelevant.

At a meeting on Tuesday, councillors passed a motion, proposed by Keith Redmond (FG), calling on Fingal chief executive Paul Reid to ask Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly to remove the 15 per cent limit on LPT reductions.

Mr Redmond said: “The valuation on property prices mandated to occur in 2016 is expected to reveal that valuations have increased far above 15 per cent and as a result local councillors will be powerless to prevent what may be an unnecessary imposition of higher LPT rates.”

Mr Redmond said the “rebound” in the property market wasn’t anticipated when the property tax legislation was being drafted. He said homeowners will see their property tax increase in 2017 and the council will end up generating revenue it doesn’t need as a result.

Councillors David McGuinness (FF) and Eoghan O'Brien (FF) said the LPT was "anti-urban". They said the Government should give local authorities more say over tax rates. "I would encourage Cllr Redmond to take this up with his own party colleagues in the Oireachtas, " said Mr McGuinness.

The motion was passed by 30 votes to six with no abstentions. It also called on Mr Reid to write to all other local authorities in the State asking them to consider the issue.