Chambers welcomes rates freeze by mid-west councils

A BUSINESS organisation has welcomed commercial rates restraints by local authorities in the mid-west.

Chambers Ireland commended Limerick City Council for reducing its rates and Nenagh Town Council for not increasing their commercial levies.

Outside the Mid-West, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown county council, in Dublin, also retained the 2006 commercial rate.

Limerick City Council is to reduce its commercial rates this year by 1%.

Last year, the city council broke ranks and became the first local authority to ever decrease its annual rate on valuation, or ARV, the multiplier used by local authorities to determine commercial rates.

Chairwoman of Chambers Ireland’s Ratepayers’ Council, Hilary Haydon welcomed the announcements. “Local authority charges to business such as commercial rates, water charges, development levies and other taxes have been increasing year on year as local authorities seek to cover their ever expanding remit under financial constraints exacerbated by inadequate exchequer funding,” he said.

“This is damaging business competitiveness and is adding to the other rising costs faced by business such as energy, wage costs and inflation.

“A thriving business community is critical to the vibrancy of every local authority area and rising costs, including local authority charges, are impeding enterprise.

“We encourage all Irish local authorities to follow suit and look to making other decrease in their charges to business.”