Household Charge shambles

Household charge shambles


Widower upset after deceased wife sent letter

Anton McNulty
antonmcnulty@mayonews.ie

THE list used to record the number of households which have paid the €100 Household Charge has been called into question after Mayo County Council were forced into an embarrassing apology for sending letters seeking payment to people who have already paid the charge. At least one deceased person was also sent a letter in error.
As part of the continuing campaign to collect all the monies outstanding from the Household Charge, Mayo County Council recently issued 28,641 letters to households seeking payment of €127 - which covers the charge, penalties and interest.
However, a number of letters were send to people who already paid the charge and The Mayo News has learnt that a 79-year-old man was sent four letters over two days last week seeking the payment, while another letter was addressed to his late wife, who has been deceased for the last three-and-a-half years.
These letters were sent to householders included on a list supplied to the Council by the Household Charge Bureau. The bureau created this list by matching records of those who had paid the charge with records provided to the bureau by the Property Registration Authority.
On Friday evening last, County Secretary John Condon issued an apology to householders who received the letter despite paying the charge.
“It has come to the Council’s attention that a number of people who received these letters have already paid the charge,” the apology states.
“Mayo County Council on its own behalf and on behalf of the bureau wish to take this opportunity to apologise to these householders for any inconvenience caused and advises any householder who has received one of these letters, and has already paid the charge, to contact the bureau at their earliest convenience so that the records can be corrected.”

‘Really upset’
However, Independent councillor Michael Kilcoyne said it was ‘unbelievable’ that the Council and the Government agencies could send out so many letters in error. He said this called into question the figures presented by the Council regarding the number of households who have already paid the charge.
“This raises questions about the Land Registry records if these are the records they have. We pride ourselves on being a technologically advanced country yet one house can receive five of these letters. It is no wonder we are the way we are when we cannot get these things right. Some people, particularly the elderly, who paid this charge and received this letter are really upset and this is no way to treat your customers.
“We have been told by Mayo County Council that 63 per cent of households have paid the charge but how do they go about calculating their information if they counted one person five times. I’d say that figure is skew ways as well and that percentage is way wrong. This raises serious questions over the sources of their information but this has been introduced in a mad rush and a perfect example of how not to do things,” he said.
A 79-year-old Ballyvary man, who did not wish to be named, told The Mayo News that he was upset that the Council could send a letter to his late wife who died three-and-a-half years ago.
“I didn’t feel too good to be honest when I received the letters. I am in my eightieth year and I could do without this kind of thing. I paid on-line in March and I had no problem paying the €100 and I’d pay another €500 if it included the water and bin service. The letter said there was an onus on me to tell the council that I paid but I have no intention of contacting them. I’ve paid the charge and that is that and I won’t be paying it again,” he said.
He explained that three different townlands in the Ballyvary area appeared on the addresses sent to him and said that each of the letters stated the same thing.
Cllr Kilcoyne said this showed there was something ‘glaringly wrong’ with the list provided by the Land Registry and said that council staff should go through the list to ensure more of these mistakes are not made.
In the statement issued by the Council, Mr Condon said that to date approximately three out of every four householders in County Mayo have paid the household charge and called on the remaining households to pay.
“The money collected from these householders is helping Mayo County Council to continue to provide essential services to all of the people in County Mayo. Failure to pay this charge will lead to a reduction in the monies available to Mayo County Council and this will lead to cuts in services.”
Meanwhile, Mayo County Council have been criticised for becoming the first local authority in the country to begin issuing court summonses to people who have not paid the household charge.

‘Bully boy tactics’
Sinn Féin’s Environment and local government spokesperson Brian Stanley has condemned Mayo County Council for its actions, describing them as ‘bully boy tactics’.
A number of court dates have been set for the coming weeks for those who have failed to pay the €100 charge and Deputy Stanley is urging Mayo County Council to withdraw the summonses immediately.

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