Mayo Fianna Fáil TD Dara Calleary has welcomed confirmation received from the Minister for Finance that pyrite-affected homes in Mayo that qualify for the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme, will receive a temporary exemption under the new rules governing Local Property Tax.
Deputy Calleary said: "For the past number of months I have been liaising with the Minister in relation to LPT and Pyrite-affected homes in Mayo. I am pleased that the Minister has taken on board my representations and in recognition of the stressful situation that Mayo homeowners and Mica-affected homeowners in Donegal find themselves in, has committed to an exemption from LPT.
"I hope that this will in some small way offer some relief to those homeowners who are facing enormous stress and anxiety at this time."
The Ballina based deputy went on to say: "In respect of the broader new Local Property Tax arrangements, the majority of existing Mayo homeowners will not incur any increase in their liability. The rate of the tax is to be cut and the bands will be widened to make the changes affordable and to maintain the overall structure of the LPT. Where increases arise, the majority will be by a single band (€90 ).
"The new approach maintains the number of bands at 20. Band 1 is expanded from €1 to €200,000 and Band 2 contains values in the range €200,000 to €262,500. The LPT charge is fixed at the current charge for Bands 1 & 2 (€90 and €225 respectively ). The other bands are widened by 75% to create bands of €87,500 (increased from the current range of €50,000 ).
"I am pleased too that it will remain the case that Mayo County Council will retain 100% of LPT collected in the county. The proposed changes to the LPT regime will be legislated for in the Finance (Local Property Tax ) (Amendment ) Bill 2021. The Revenue Commissioners will then make the essential technical and administrative preparations in advance of the valuation date of November 1, 2021,” he explained.
