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Birr Councillors request funding increase to reflect inflation
Birr town centre
Reporter:
Midland Tribune Reporter
16 Oct 2024 10:52 AM
Email:
darren.keegan@iconicnews.ie
Birr Municipal Council's members have requested an increase in funding to reflect inflation.
The Municipal Council's General Municipal Allocation (GMA) is used to pay for events such as civic receptions, local award schemes and essential spends such as erecting Christmas lights in town centres - all sectors which are not immune to inflation and will require more spending power for the local members to continue to provide a level of service equivalent to previous years.
The GMA is reserved exclusively for the Municipal Council and is separate to the local authority's expenditure and how it is spent is decided by the local elected members at workshops and their monthly meetings.
At their monthly meeting in Birr on Monday the members were informed they will receive the same funding as last year, against the backdrop of Offaly County Council facing a current deficit to the end of last year of €0.791-million.
The Council's budget for 2025 is currently being drafted against a challenging national economic situation, the meeting heard, with Offaly County Council facing several unique challenges, which include a backlog in commercial rates, dramatic increases in borrowing costs and the closure of the Shannonbridge Power Plant.
The latter has resulted in the permanent reduction of €1.7-million in rates income for the local authority, with the shortfall covered by central government for next year but no permanent solution yet on the horizon.
Offaly County Council's executive proposed that Birr Municipal Council would receive €192,000 for next year's GMA spend - the same as they received last year.
However, Cllr. John Clendennen, while acknowledging the significant additional funding which has come to the county in recent years and provided improved and additional services, he said the Councillors' discretionary spend is one of the lower allocations from the budget.
"I acknowledge our GMA has increased year on year and there was a significant increase last year in particular, but I think we have gone through quite an inflationary period and if the fund stays the same this year as last year we are essentially going backwards", he said.
The fund should be kept in line with inflation, Cllr. Clendennen said and proposed a 3% increase "at the very least" and asked the Council executive to reconsider the final sum allocated.
The proposal was seconded by Cllr. John Leahy, who said that although Birr's GMA of €192,000 appears small in comparison to the total budget of over €85-million, the manner in which the money is spent derives "great value for money" he said.
"I always feel that when you have a fund like this that is spent in the community we get triple the value from it, because the materials are purchased locally and the work is done by the community", Cllr. Leahy said, adding that often the funds are useful to cover minor shortfalls on other projects including local roads and footpaths.
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