Offaly County Council adopts 'excellent' budget during 'difficult' time

Offaly County Council adopted what several councillors referred to as an "excellent" Budget during its monthly meeting on Monday afternoon. 

Addressing the meeting Cllr  John Carroll, Cathaoirleach, said he believed this was a excellent budget considering the very difficult time we are living in.

He highlighted a number of positive and noteworthy things in the Budget.

"For example, we have been in a position to maintain the sum of €150,000 towards our local roads (from NPPR income). We have maintained our Disabled Person's Grant at the maximum level which allows us to access the maximum government funding possible.  We have again set aside €350,000 for matching funding for government initiatives which will allow us to maximise the grants that can be allocated to Town and Village Renewal (TVR). TVR is an essential scheme which helps us regenerate our urban spaces.  

"We have also managed to maintain our Arts Budget at the same level as last year, and we will continue to make provisions for the future of Tullamore Arts Centre, as well as maintaining the budgets for our Municipal Districts."

Cllr Carroll said this has been a very difficult year because of Covid-19, and the Council faces many unknowns in 2021 regarding the level of income from rates, the level of incoming from planning fees and from parking charges and whether the Government will make once again the significant intervention it made this year of  granting €3.3 million.     

"If the Government hadn't given us that extra €3.3 million, to compensate for the huge loss of rates because of the closure of West Offaly Power Station and the winding down of Bord na Móna activity, then it would have been impossible to present the excellent Budget you see before you this afternoon.

"Today I want to acknowledge that Governmental intervention and extend my thanks all who assisted, our Oireachtas members, our Chief Executive Anna Marie Delaney, our finance officer and the Council management who prepared and presented very logical arguments and figures to the Government to show the necessity for intervention; and not least you yourselves, members, who assisted in achieving this wonderful outcome."

The Cathaoirleach added that unfortunately the Rates shortfall will be a recurring issue year after year and it might be exacerbated by decisions relating to Edenderry Power. Therefore the Council would have to immediately open negotiations with the governmental department regarding the long term solution to the rates deficit, "a deficit which is being caused by the government and European decarbonisation policy.   I submit that future income generated by green energy needs to go towards the shortfall in our Rates income.

"We are a small county with a small rate base and the present criteria for financing local government will not sustain our needs to grow and develop."

The Cathaoirleach pointed out that what might appear to be cuts in the Budget are in fact related to savings that are now possible; in other words these monies were allocated previously for projects which are now complete and therefore the monies are no longer needed.

"Following our meeting in committee, I welcome the fact that our head of finance has addressed concerns raised regarding reduced spending in tourism and economic development and has sorted additional resources to invest in both of these important programmes.

"As a long-term board member of Birr Leisure Centre of which Cllr. Ormond now represents this council; I am acutely aware of the difficulties they are encountering as I am sure are our council members that sit on the board of Clara and Edenderry pools.

"Following discussion with our finance officer I am delighted that he has managed to make a saving in another programme to increase the allocation to the three voluntarily run leisure centres by €30,000.   This is a very substantial increase i.e. €10,000 per pool. I am very aware that the financial reserves of these swimming pools are depleted, and it is important that these facilities are maintained for the health and wellbeing of our community.  I have always submitted that the council gets great return on its investment in these facilities.

"As all members are aware, promoting the Irish language is a constant endeavour of mine. I am delighted to say that €5000 has been set aside in the corporate budget for events that will assist in this objective."

He added that the Budget contains additional funding for Tourism of €20,000.

The meeting also agreed to retain the current 100% rebate in relation to the refund of rates on vacant commercial premises.
Cllr Peter Ormond spoke at length during the meeting. He began by saying that on behalf of the Fianna Fail Group of Councillors, he wanted to thank the Chief Executive, Anna Marie Delaney, and Mark Connolly and his Finance Team for presenting the Council with a balanced budget.

Cllr Ormond said this year’s budget is being prepared on the backdrop of the Covid-19 Pandemic And this has led to huge uncertainty in the finances of local authorities, coupled with uncertainty in other markets close to our county.

"On Page 3 of the Chief Executive's Report, there is a list of projects that we made significant progress in 2020.
"The first step of the budget process commenced some months ago with retaining the property tax at current levels. This revenue stream has been very beneficial to our county in the last 12 months and has enabled us to move projects forward in each Municipal District. In Birr, we have the Birr Destination Town/Failte Ireland Initiative. In Tullamore we will continue with the Street Enhancement of the town and in the Edenderry MD, we have the Masterplan Development for the library/link road area. The combined total investment in these schemes are €2,637,085 and Offaly County Council was able to put €742,378 forward as match funding.

"We also welcome the news that the Municipal District Allowance for each Municipal District is retained at their 2020 Levels of €163k for the Edenderry MD, €170k for the Birr MD and €177k for the Tullamore MD. This funding is important as it is discretionary funding for each MD and allows us to focus on local priorities and community initiatives.

"There are a number of reductions proposed on Page 6 of the Finance Officers Report today. We welcome the amendment proposed today to maintain the tourism budget in line with last year’s allocation. The other reductions represent efficiencies found in the various departments and I welcome that the management team have examined all spending within their respective departments and found these efficiencies.

"We welcome that we can maintain the level of funding announced last year to all our front-line services. We are also able to support our libraries, the arts sector, our swimming pools and community Development section. The last 9 months have shown us the importance of these services in our communities and we are glad that funding levels have been maintained.
"The last 9 months have been very difficult for doing business in our county, particular in the small SME and hospitality sector. This council has provided many supports in implementing various schemes from the Department and I would like to thank the staff from the Finance/Enterprise Section for their work in this matter.

"We as a council must continue to provide the supports for businesses and I welcome the announcement last Friday, that two Enterprise Centres in Offaly were successful with their funding applications. The small SMEs are the lifeblood of our county and we must continue to support them in every way possible. 

"The budget presented before us today is a positive budget for the county, given the context that it was prepared in."
Chief Executive Anna Marie Delaney said the rates revenue per year from West Offaly Power is €3.188m; for Bord na Móna sites associated with West Offaly Power the rates revenue is €0.146m; the rates revenue from Edenderry Power is €1.279m. The total rates book for Offaly is €18m and therefore the loss of revenue because of the closure of West Offaly Power and its associated BnM sites equals €3.3m or 18.5% of the rates book for 2021. She said it was very welcome when the government announced it would make up that 18.5% shortfall.

The CE said the second issue the Council has been dealing with, since March, is Covid-19 and its impact on SMEs. She said the Council has been providing a range of supports including Restart and Restart Plus grants, as well as a suite of initiatives and supports from the Council's Local Enterprise Office.

She added that in September the Council agreed a Local Property Tax increase of 15%, or €742,886 for 2021.