Commercial rates go up 3.9% in Cork county

COMMERCIAL rates will be increased by 3.9% in Co Cork next year, netting the local authority an estimated €84.2 million.

Ger Power, the county council’s head of finance, told councillors at a special budget meeting yesterday that commercial rates represented 23% of all its income.

He pointed out that the Celtic Tiger economy had seen a 35.7% increase in the commercial rate take since 1997. “We have a very strong commercial rate base with growth in new businesses,” he said.