Cork city businesses owe council more than €15.1m in rates
According to Kevin Hartnett, the collector of municipal rates, 2011 was once again a “very difficult year for collection”.
However, the council did collect €57.5m of €78.6m owed 1m more than what was collected in 2010.
Mr Hartnett said, while the arrears had risen by €2.2m over 2010, this was a much smaller increase than in 2010 or 2009 which saw a €4.2m rise in defaults.
According to the city council, the number of derelict and vacant properties across the city is rising, and this is having an impact on rates being paid on time.
“Vacancy levels continue to rise while the market for commercial property remains stagnant,” Mr Hartnett said. “This creates a significant burden for owners of vacant property who still have a rates liability and accounts for a sizeable portion of the overall arrears figure.”
In a report to the city council, Mr Hartnett said rate-payers continue to make every effort to meet their liability and the extent of arrears, though large, remains within manageable levels and is reasonable in the current climate.
“I remain aware of the need, in some cases, to agree payment schedules with rate-payers to reflect both the requirement of the city council to raise funds for the provision of services and the ability of the rate-payer to make payment in the traditional manner,” he said.
“These schedules can be tailored to the particular circumstances of each rate-payer. I would continue to encourage anyone who may be experiencing difficulty to make contact with me or a member of my staff where their particular circumstances can be addressed and costly legal proceedings avoided.”
Local authorities around the country have signalled they are going to get tough with people in arrears, to the point of legal action.
Meanwhile, bucking the trend, Cork County Council collected a record €95.7m in rates last year, up more than €16m from the peak boom year — 2006.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
