Councils face cuts over levy boycott

The mass boycott of the household tax is set to hit home as councils face having to cut their budgets after Phil Hogan, the environment minister, moved to withhold government funding.

The intervention came as a second warning letter goes out to non-payers, and as concern the €100 flat tax would be extended for another year instead of being replaced by a graduated system of payment provoked further controversy.

The Department of the Environment is to withhold part of the Local Government Fund Allocation (LGFA) from councils, resulting in decreases between 5% and 15% in funding from central government.