Cork City Council is best resourced local authority

Cork City Council has emerged as the best resourced local authority on a per capita basis of all 34 county and city councils in the Republic.

Figures sourced from the Department of the Environment also highlight wide discrepancies in the level of funding enjoyed by local authorities across the country in 2011.

The income of Cork City Council from government and general purpose grants, the provision of services, and commercial rates came to €192.8m in 2011.

It represents funding equal to €1,617 per resident of Cork City — a figure 16% more than the local authority with the second highest average revenue stream, Dublin City Council with almost €1,395 per person.

Department figures — which exclude capital expenditure — also show Cork City Council’s annual revenue per head of population was 79% above the national average of €903 for all local authorities.

Local authorities in Dublin’s commuter belt have the lowest levels of income.

Louth County Council had the lowest in 2011 with just under €483 per head of population — less than one-third of Cork City Council’s rate and almost 50% below the national average. Other counties with below-average income were Meath (€498), Kildare (€585), and Wicklow (€652).

Not surprisingly, given the level of funding sourced from commercial rates, other city councils in Limerick (€1,357), Waterford (€1,266), and Galway (€1,126) also enjoy some of the highest average incomes along with Cork and Dublin.

However, several of the smaller local authorities including county councils in Leitrim, Longford, and Roscommon have some of the highest average revenue per head of population. Leitrim County Council had an average revenue of €1,245 per inhabitant.

The figures show the 34 local authorities had revenues of €4.1bn in 2011 with commercial rates accounting on average for almost 30% of all income.

However, the figures show some local authorities are highly dependent on particular revenue streams for their annual funding.

Commercial rates contribute between 30% and 40% of the income of the five city councils, while they account for almost 53% of the income of South Dublin County Council and 47% for the other two local authority areas in Dublin — Fingal and Dún Laoghaire- Rathdown.

In contrast, commercial rates contribute less than 9% to the income of Sligo County Council.

Monaghan County Council is the most heavily dependent local authority on government grants and subsidies, relying on this revenue stream for over 47% of its annual income.

Other local authorities similarly highly reliant on exchequer funding include Carlow, Galway County, North Tipperary, and Mayo. Leitrim, Sligo, Longford and Waterford County Council are most reliant on income from generate purpose grants (motor tax receipts) where it contributes around 30% of their income.

Dublin City Council had the largest overall income in 2011 with revenues totalling almost €736m, followed by Cork City Council which had annual income of almost €298m.