Serious cuts will be made to the city’s budget for 2013 if the household charge is not collected from each house in the city, according to officials.
While the city has one of the highest collection rates in the country at 71 per cent, it has been revealed that more than 7,000 homes have not lodged a payment at City Hall.
It has been suggested by councillors that the effect of this will be felt next year when the Government cut local authority funding, and force councils to suffer any non-payment by households.
Independent councillor Declan McDonnell feared that voluntary groups will be the worst hit: “We could have a shortfall of €250,000 this quarter. What kind of effect will this have on sports and arts groups next year?”
Director of services Ciarán Hayes said: “We must thank the 20,000 households that have come up to pay, the other 7,000 either cannot pay, or won’t pay.”
In conversation about the strains on the council’s budgets in funding the Volvo Ocean Race, and other sporting events, Mr Hayes said: “We are one of the only countries that does not have a local tax. It’s something we should look at. The people that want Volvo aren’t paying rates”.
To date Galway City Council has received €1.68 million from the household charge, leaving more than €700,000 unpaid.
Efforts to collect the balance are currently underway and are proving successful, according to the council’s finance department. A tranche of letters sent out last week has resulted in a noted surge in payments over the last few days.
Independent councillor Donal Lyons was worried by the impact of non-payment on the council and urged councillors to lobby their colleagues in Government for change on the matter.
Meanwhile as the council’s coffers continue to strain, all eyes were turned on the anomaly that prevents the city from collecting rates on empty buildings.
Cllr McDonnell slammed Environment Minister Phil Hogan for ignoring the council’s call for help on the matter: “This minister has refused to meet us, he won’t change the legislation, and it is costing us €2 million a year from missing rates.”
