COUNCILLORS in local authorities across the Southside have criticised a decision to cut council funding because of a shortfall in the collection of the controversial household charge.
Elected representatives and staff at Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, South Dublin County Council and Dublin City Council all learned recently that the Department of the Environment has cut the annual allocation of the Local Government Fund.
Minister Phil Hogan said he would be making the cuts because of the failure of all local authorities to fully collect the controversial
?¬100 household charge.
The Department of the Environment has said that the reductions in the allocation of the Local Government Fund, also known as the General Purpose Grant (GPG), to each local authority were largely proportionate to the councils’ rate of collection of the household charge.
With the highest rate of compliance in the country some 80 per cent of householders in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council have paid the household charge to date.
As a result the council’s Local Government Fund allocation has only been reduced by 5.3 per cent, which is also the lowest cut in the country.
County Manager Owen Keegan said the proposed cut was most unwelcome,
“given the stellar performance of households in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown paying the charge”.
Cllr Victor Boyhan (Ind) said the minister was
“holding the council to ransom
? by cutting the Government’s commitment to fund the local authority in 2012.
“The minister’s message is clear,
‘cough up the household charge or everyone’s services will be cut’. That’s grossly unfair,
? he said.
Councillors at Dublin City Council have been informed that its original Local Government Fund allocation for 2012 will be reduced by
?¬4.7 million or about 8.6 per cent.
The council also has a relatively high compliance rate regarding the collection of the household charge at 66 per cent.
South West Inner City based councillor Criona Ni Dhalaigh (SF) described the cut as an
“assault on local democracy
?.
“By tying local government funding to the un-collectable and inequitable household charge, the coalition is putting councils in an impossible financial position,
? she said.
The Local Government Fund allocation for South Dublin County Council has been reduced by
?¬1,900,842 or 11.8 per cent this year. Some 57 per cent of householders in the local authority area have paid the household charge.
Sinn Féin activist Eoin O Broin said the cut would have a serious impact on the provision of essential services for hundreds of thousands of families.
“The Government is punishing councils and citizens for its own bad decisions,
? he added.
A spokesperson for the Department of the Environment said that because household charge compliance has not been achieved the minister had to
“revise
? the payment of General Purpose Grants by between five and 15 per cent in the third quarter of this year.
He said that the department would revisit the last quarter payment of the Local Government Fund to councils in light of the household charge compliance level at that time.
“This allows for local authorities to progressively recoup their original GPG allocation through improved household charge compliance,
? he added.