There will be no reduction in rates for Westmeath businesses in 2012, but a 5 per cent reduction in water costs has been welcomed by councillors at this week’s annual Westmeath County Council budget meeting.
This was despite an estimate that €1.8m out of €10m in rates due in 2011 cannot be recovered.
However, it had emerged that a rate reduction would actually benefit larger, rather than smaller businesses, a point made by Cllr Peter Burke at the recent town hall meeting organised by the Chamber of Commerce in Mullingar and emphasized by figures provided by the council’s finance department.
Fianna Fáil councillors Aidan Davitt and Paddy Hill made much of the unrecovered rates in their proposal to have a rate reduction of up to 2.3 per cent for businesses, saying it was essential to support small businesses and more importantly, for the council to show it is on the side of business.
They proposed that the money be taken from parking income, the library fund, and a number of other areas, but the proposal was roundly rejected by all outside of Fianna Fail.
County manager Danny McLoughlin said he’s “extremely conscious of the very difficult environment businesses are experiencing at the moment,” and pointed to a free business advice service the council offers and a 5 per cent reduction in water rates.
The figures also didn’t add up when acting head of finance Jimmy Dalton described how just a few businesses pay the greatest proportion of rates.
Twelve businesses pay 25 per cent of rates, and the proposed cut would see small businesses benefit to the tune of just €30 per year. Larger business could save thousands.
Cllr Mark Cooney questioned whether €30 would make or break any business. A reduction would amount to nothing more than tokenism, claimed Cllr Fintan Cooney.
“It’s tokenism, it won’t make one iota of difference or save one job. The problems of the business community are much wider than Westmeath County Council,” he said, describing the budget as “very skilfully balanced”.
“We’d be making fools of ourselves to say we’d be helping [business] by reducing rates by 1 per cent.
Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Hill said he accepted that energy and upward only rent agreements are a bigger issue for businesses, but he said more businesses will be unable to pay their rates in the coming year.
“Other counties have adopted a rate reduction of, in some instances, as low as 1 per cent but it’s to get the signal out there to those small and medium-sized businesses who are suffering quite a lot in the times that we live in today.”
