Emergency and other services have been provided to city folk by Galway County Council since the 1980s, but now it wants urban dwellers to pay their way.
Galway City Council paid the county €7.3 million last year for shared fire, library, civil defence, coronial, water safety and other services, but it was landed with a much heftier demand last week.
With an increase in costs associated with a shared Local Enterprise Office, improved lifeguard training, and higher than usual bills for storm-ravaged Rinville Park and creaky Galway Airport, City Council staffers were expecting a charge of €8 million.
So when county officials popped an €11 million demand into the post box of cash-strapped City Hall early last week, all hell broke loose.
Last Friday, city and county top brass sat down to eyeball each other at a tense meeting after a flurry of spikey correspondence, and pick through an agreement which is understood to have remained in place - with little adjustment - since former county manager Seamus Keating, and Town Clerk Joe Gavin, hammered out a deal in 1985.
City bean counters maintain the County has never spelled out exactly what their money is blown on in the Byzantine bureaus of Prospect Hill, while the eagle-eyed quartermasters in County Hall have noted an increase in the amount of tax hoovered up from Galway city’s merchant classes over the past decade.
The two local authorities collected almost €65 million in Commercial Rates last year, with city businesses coughing up €37 million, compared to just €28 million raked in by county officials from companies based across Galway.
With this in mind, Galway County Council hiked its annual shared services bill by 51 per cent compared to last year’s request. Perhaps they thought no one would notice?
In a statement, a county spokesman said its €11 million bill represents Galway City Council’s “apportioned contribution towards the cost of shared services”.
“The calculation of the costs and the apportionment of those costs between the two local authorities is in accordance with the [1985 Local Government Reorganisation] Act,” he said.
He also pointed out that his local council was “Galway’s largest authority” but that it would continue to deal with the teeny, tiny city.
“The National Oversight and Audit Committee (NOAC ), the independent national oversight body for the local government sector, has consistently recognised the quality of service delivery by Galway County Council,” he confirmed.
In response, city officials have demanded key performance indicators on how the county has measured providing the city with core services for over four decades, such as operating Galway Fire and Rescue Service, and running three libraries within the city.
There is no modern, Service Level Agreement (SLA ) between Galway’s two local authorities, and their deal dates back to 1985, when Galway Corporation was formally detached from the county.
In the same year, Galway city absorbed the districts of Coolagh, Curragrean, Doughiska, Menlo Village and Ballybrit from the County Council, and has paid €1 million per year to County Hall ever since for the privilege.
This massive €40 million over 41 years entered the conversation last Friday with explosive surprise, according to an individual present. Phrases such as “money for old rope” may have been muttered, much to the annoyance of county mandarins who covet the Rates paid by multinationals in Parkmore.
Galway city councillors were updated on this inter-municipal row at a pre budget workshop on Tuesday evening; county councillors on Wednesday.
Last year’s County budget was a record-breaking €203 million, so its members are calling in all debts for 2027.
City councillors rejected a 10 per cent increase in Local Property Tax last month, so now they are working on methods to fill a €6 million hole in the city’s €175m budget for 2027.
Expanding car parking charges to areas like Salthill, Terryland, Dangan, Mervue and Renmore, where commuters dump their cars for free for the day, and increasing the cost of €30 annual parking permits for city centre residents, are both under consideration.
Another idea is to give end-of-year rebates to retail, hospitality and tourism businesses if they pay their taxes early – thus assisting with the city’s cash flow.
But it is the one, A4 page bill for €11,069,374 from County Hall that is really focusing urbanite minds, with a quarterly repayment plan cheekily offered of €2,676,434 plus 50 cents, per instalment.
“This is just another reason why the county and city should not merge,” says independent city councillor Donal Lyons. “We contribute our funding to the arts, residents’ associations, building community centres, sports clubs and even grass cutting,” he said. “Do you think the County would ever do that for us...?”
