Council to receive extra €1.5m in property tax funding

MAYO County Council is to receive an additional €1.5 million in Government funding for the 2024 Budget following an increase in Local Property Tax (LPT) baseline funding.

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien TD announced a €75.4m increase in LPT baseline funding to local authorities for 2024 following a review of how the money is allocated.

Mayo County Council is to receive an additional €1.5m in LPT funding to bring the baseline funding in Government funding to €21,312,344. Every local authority receives a minimum 'baseline’ amount of funding from the Local Property Tax, supplemented by funding from the exchequer where a local authority’s LPT income is lower than its baseline.

This baseline funding helps in the delivery of services day-to-day, but also in successfully leading the local response to emergency situations; such as the sector's establishment of Community Call during Covid-19, and more recently the community response to support the Ukrainian crisis.

Minister O’Brien TD, said that local authorities play an integral role in the delivery of services to our citizens.

“I am aware of the growing challenges faced by local authorities due to the increase in demand for services and the growing cost of providing these. This significant increase in funding should go a long way towards easing the pressure on the sector.

“Since 2020 I have been committed to a review of the baseline funding of local authorities and I established a working group earlier this year to examine the issue. I am pleased to announce that today’s funding has been guided by the review that has taken place and the recommendations of the working group,” he said.

Kieran O’Donnell, Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, welcomed the completion of the review of Local Property Tax baselines, noting the important work completed by the review group, which included elected local representatives, to inform the final model.

“I would like to thank the Working Group for all their work on assisting our review of how we provide baseline funding. Today’s increase in allocations reflects the importance of the work that local authorities do, which I see for myself as I visit and meet with Councillors across the country,” he said.