Donegal County Council considers stance on LPT at budget workshop

Donegal County Council is meeting in private session today to discuss the Local Property Tax, and whether or not it should be increased for Donegal householders.
Under legislation, local authorities have the scope to either increase or decrease the Local Property Tax by 15%, based on its own financial needs and its ability to absorb a funding cut.
Last year, 14 councils reduced their Local Property Tax rate by between 1.5% and 15%.
Donegal County Council voted by 20 votes to 9 not to decrease the tax a year ago, with officials saying to do so would mean a revenue loss of over 1.5 million euro that the council could not afford.
Today, in the first in a series of pre-budget workshops, Finance Director Garry Martin is presenting members with a full report on the Local Property Tax, including the results of an extensive public consultation that ended last month.
A final decision is due to be taken at the full meeting of council a week from today.
More meetings will take place at municipal district level in the coming weeks, with a date for the budget meeting to be set in November.