Businesses face rates hike as town councils abolished

Businesses in several Co Cork towns are likely to face a significant rise in their rates when town councils are abolished next year.

The running of 11 towns, which currently have their own councils, is to be taken over by Cork County Council, which has higher rate charges.

In some cases the council’s charges can be as much as 20% more than town councils and it’s planned to standardise rates throughout the county post-2014.

The council has appointed a senior official, Maurice Manning, to oversee the transition, which will involve a fair deal of rationalisation, including redundancies and maybe the sale of some town council-owned buildings.

Cllr Donal O’Rourke (FF) raised the issue at a meeting in County Hall.

However, he got very few answers as deputy county manager, Declan Daly, said it was a work in progress and county manager Martin Riordan was likely to deliver a comprehensive report on the changes next month.

Cllr O’Rourke claimed there was “a distinct lack of any public consultation” about the move. He was concerned that town council properties could be sold and would make very little in the current economic climate. “These buildings should be given to community groups etc,” he said.

Cllr O’Rourke added that town councils grant-aided many community groups and was concerned this might come to an end. He said Clonakilty Town Council gave its local Tidy Towns committee €10,000 per year and wondered would the county council start to pick up that tab?

Mr Daly said he wouldn’t have any difficulty with community groups using town council buildings if they became surplus to the county council’s requirements.

On the subject of rates he added: “Towns are all lower than county at the moment and that will be equalised over time.”

The acting manager added that redundancy packages were also being made available for town council staff who wanted to leave.

Cllr Ronan Sheehan (Lab) said people were asking what will happen when town councils are abolished and local politicians were unable to answer them.

Cllr Noel Collins (Ind) from Midleton and Cllr Dan Joe Fitzgerald (FF) from Mallow expressed concerns that some small businesses wouldn’t be able to pay steeper rates.