Rates in Athlone will only increase by 1 per cent this year, after the figures were set at Friday’s (December 19 ) budget meeting at the Council chambers.
County manager Danny McLoughlin presented the budget to the councillors, seeking a 2 per cent raise in rates needed to balance the books in order to fund the million a month needed to run the town.
However, in a move of effortless bipartisanship, councillors Mark Cooney and Kieran Molloy chiselled €45,000 from the presented figures in a five minute adjournment to halve the projected bill for their commercial constituents.
In 2009 it will cost a little over €12m to fund Athlone Town Council, up a touch from the €11.5m it cost this year.
With these figures, 585 of the town’s 780 rate payers will have an increase of just €1 per week.
Only 35 of the town’s customers will have their rates bill go up by more than a fiver a week and in a national context, Athlone’s civic figures put it 35th on the list of 49 rateable authorities.
In a reflection of the times, payroll costs at the council are to be squeezed by 3 per cent this year and there is a projected shortfall in income from planning application fees, fire safety certificates, and car parking charges to the tune of €200,000.
The town council has allocated €4.2m to acquire 20 houses next year. In 2008 42 houses were allocated to tenants and there are currently 895 on the housing waiting list.
In total, Athlone Town Council collected €4.5m in rates in 2008, an €873,000 increase on 2007.
This was primarily because of the new shopping centre and the Frank Kelly development on Connaught Street.
Rates accounted for nearly 40 per cent of the town’s income, with the central government grant of €3.5m accounting for just under 30 per cent.
Refuse tags and parking fees take in a little over a million a year.
The town’s biggest expenditure is salaries, with an annual bill of just over €4.1m.
