€32m collected in commercial rates

FIGURES released by Clare County Council have revealed that so far this year €32.35 million has been collected in commercial rates.
According to Niall Barrett, head of finance for the council, to date this year 71% of rates owed to the local authority have been collected, compared with 75% in the same period last year. In the full financial year 2011, 79% of commercial rates, including arrears, were collected.
The figures were released at this week’s meeting of Clare County Council, where Councillor Oliver Garry urged that council staff be sent out to meet with business people in arrears.
Councillor Garry commented, “Payment plans should begin sooner rather than later. The staff of the council could go out and get in touch with people and put these payment plans in place. There seems to be a continuous rise in arrears and that is to be expected with the downturn in the economy. It’s important that we tackle this.”
Councillor Cathal Crowe added, “The vast majority of rate payers are very genuine and make a reasonable effort to pay. But there is an underbelly who avoid it and move on to other premises, leaving the owner high and dry with bills.”
Councillor John Crowe added, “Every business in the country is under pressure” and agreed that meeting businesses would be a positive step.
Mr Barrett told the councillors that while he would like more staff available to help with collection, it must be balanced with the needs of other departments.
“The key to this situation is early engagement with customers. People in difficulty need to get in touch with us early,” he said.
He outlined, “In recognition of the downturn in the economy, Clare County Council is facilitating payment arrangements of commercial rates on a weekly or monthly basis and encourages our customers to avail of this facility. Arising from this practice, there are a number of commercial ratepayers in arrears at today’s date who have agreed and are discharging the liability over an extended timeframe.
“Over 2,000 customers were invoiced for commercial rates in 2012, 54% have paid their commercial rates invoice plus any arrears outstanding in full or are in arrangements to have this balance cleared in the coming months.
“Efforts continue to concentrate in achieving improved collection levels as in previous years. The outstanding balances are being actively pursued through engagement with customers in agreeing payment plans or through legal action, where necessary.”