Council look for two per cent increase

Council look for two per cent rate increase


Michael Duffy

MAYO County Manager, Des Mahon, confirmed yesterday (Monday) that he would be looking for a two per cent rate increase at next week’s budget meeting of the Council.
However, the likelihood of this increase getting the backing of the elected representatives looks very remote, as impassioned pleas were heard from most councillors for the authority to help the county’s small businesses survive in this difficult economic climate.
Two notices of motion before the meeting dealt specifically with helping small business, with Patsy O’Brien receiving unanimous support for his motion that called for no increase in the commercial rate or water charges.
“In the current climate, there should be no increase, because the fact is many small businesses have been the backbone of the rural economy and they are barely surviving at the moment. I feel a much fairer way to calculate the rate would be a percentage of the overall turnover of a company rather than a flat rate.”
There was widespread support for the thrust of Cllr O’Brien’s motion with many councillors focusing on the fact that there was a noticeable downturn in commercial activity in small towns across the county.
Cllr Tim Quinn firmly laid a lot of the blame for this on the bigger supermarkets that had moved into the county over the last number of years.
“These big supermarkets are always welcomed for the jobs they create but in reality they don’t create jobs, they just move them around. There has also been a huge exodus of people to the North of Ireland to do their Christmas shopping and this is a hugely worrying trend.”
Cllr Paddy McGuinness urged a word of caution because he felt there was a danger that a perception would go out from the meeting that an increase in rates from the Council would close businesses.
“I have never heard of a business having to close down solely because of a council rate increase. It is always due to a combination of factors but I am aware that we must do our utmost to help the smaller businesses in the smaller towns.”
Cllr Margaret Adams also said that developers had to do their bit for small business by not asking for unrealistic rent rates, while Cllr Gerry Coyle said he had no doubt that the ‘Tescos, Aldis and Lidls’ were affecting the smaller supermarkets across the county.
County Manager Des Mahon said the Department of Taxation was currently looking at the rates system in different councils.
“I do believe we have done our best for small business in the county by making parking available in the smaller towns and by enhancing the look of the towns through improvement works."