City council to lower Limerick rates for first time
Shops in Limerick pay the highest rates in the country and there have been warnings that some would move to suburban centres where the much lower Limerick county rate applies.
The new rate will be €71.90 compared to the current rate of €75.69.
One top store in Limerick is understood to pay in excess of €200,000 a year in rates.
Limerick Chamber of Commerce president Robert Graydon praised the city council’s vision in reducing rates for the first time.
Mr Graydon said: “This is a step in the right direction and should encourage retail companies to look at the city again and assist existing business by having one more tax reduced and make them more viable.”
Limerick mayor Diarmuid Scully welcomed the move, which he said was due to the improved finances at city hall.
Mr Scully said: “At the end of 2003 we had a deficit of €7.2 million and this went down to €2m last year. This year it has been virtually eradicated.”
He said council funds had benefited from new shopping developments within the city boundary, such as the Childers Road retail park.
He said further rates funding would be generated by developments such as the River Point project, the new hotel and retail centre being built on the site of the old Savoy cinema, and the development on the site of the old Royal George Hotel and its precincts.
Limerick County Council take in an estimated €9m in rates from industrial and retail premises in the suburbs, outside the city boundary.
They say this money is essential for the overall development of the entire county.
