No sign of rates reduction

THE Shannon Business for Affordable Rates Group met with county manager Tom Coughlan this week but wasn’t given any commitment that the burden on business will be reduced.

In a statement this week, the group said, “The county manager was very understanding of the heavy burden that commercial rates is putting on businesses and, in particular, on small businesses. Our principal concern is that ratepayers have not seen any reduction in our rate charges for three years. All businesses have had to adjust and make cutbacks to the difficult trading conditions that we currently find ourselves in.
“We urged the county manager to bear our concerns in mind when preparing his budget for 2013. We were encouraged to see, for example, that Clare County Council has reduced their wage bill by €8 million from 2009 figures. We sought assurances that commercial rates for 2013 will be reduced. However, we were disappointed Mr Coughlan could not give us a guarantee that rates will be reduced in 2013.
“We were informed by Mr Coughlan that Clare’s contribution from central government is far from adequate. Of the 26 counties, Clare has the third-lowest contribution from central government and we understand that our contribution for 2012 has been reduced by €5m and there is a possibility of further reductions going into 2013.
“We pointed out to the county manager the urgent need for the speed-up of the revaluation process so that a more fair and equitable system is introduced. We also suggested a reduction in rates for businesses in severe financial difficulty and that a ‘banding system’ is introduced, whereby smaller businesses would benefit most from any refund or deduction in rates.”
Speaking to The Clare Champion after the meeting, Pat Kelly said that while Mr Coughlan was sympathetic to the difficulties faced by business, there was no sign of any reduction being offered.
“He was very sympathetic to our situation, he fully accepts that commercial businesses are under strain from commercial rates.
“We told him we felt it’s the biggest expense that a lot of retailers have at the moment and that we hoped the council could give some comfort and that rates will be reduced going forward. We got no such comfort from him. His exact words were that the rating system wasn’t fit for purpose and that it was putting an unfair burden on ratepayers but he’s bound by the rates system, the same way as we are.”
Shannon Business for Affordable Rates held its second public meeting on Tuesday evening, following on from the meeting with Mr Coughlan.
It was agreed at the meeting that the group would seek a meeting with Clare TDs and senators. They will ask them to lobby the Government to increase the central government contribution to Clare, seek the introduction of a banding system whereby ratepayers in severe financial difficulty may receive some reduction in rates and for a revaluation process for the entire country.
Speaking to The Clare Champion on Wednesday, spokesman for the group, Darragh O’Connor, said he was disappointed with the fact that just three Clare county councillors had attended, although all were invited. “We would ask why, out of all the county councillors, only three turned up last night.
“They were PJ Ryan, Patricia McCarthy and Gerry Flynn and we’re grateful to them for coming but with Shannon being the second-biggest contributor to rates in Clare, we feel there should have been more representatives there.”
He said all business people in Clare should lobby their local councillors to try to bring about reductions in commercial and water rates in the local authority’s 2013 budget.
Mr O’Connor said the group now has a Facebook page and that there will be another public meeting after the group has met with the local members of the Oireachtas.