The Jaws of Doom

Lord Mayor, a new catastrophe graph, the “Jaws of Doom”, is doing the rounds in local government at the moment. It is a simple illustration that shows a “budget pressures” line rising steeply to the top right of the grid, and a “grant reductions” line crashing to the bottom right. It could be a child’s depiction of a shark, or a crocodile, about to bite its prey. Lunch, in this case, appears to be local government itself.

We might have a financial balance but since 2009 the economic ‘Jaws of Doom’ have savaged just over 40 per cent of this council’s budget…one has to ask the question who’s winning here… is there a plan to get out of the jaws of doom…is there a sustainable plan for local authorities going forward…

One could rub your hands together with glee shouting we have a financial balance but do we have a moral balance. Despite no increase in income tax collection, people in this city are being passed on the cuts to local government. These are silent stealth taxes of sorts. They are hitting the poorest families and those who are working hard …through the addition of a boiler revamp tax and the domestic water charges. Less money is coming into the city at a time when people are paying more. Funding from central government is reducing all the time.

It is very disappointing at a time when families are paying a tax on their houses that they expect better services but all one will get is the survival of a service, and in some instances just about. Yesterday’s call as well by Fine Gael County Councillor for quote “people should embrace house tax with a positive frame of mind” end quote will send people in the opposite direction. No one likes paying taxes but strong leadership is important…and I firmly believe the Minister for Environment needs to really step up to bat more…and engage with the public more…. the set-up for the household charge this year was a farce….I have serious concerns for next year’s collection of the property tax when the ante is upped even again.

The intention I understand also is to take the money into a central fund, to be divided out later to local authorities rather than allowing Councils to retain the money for themselves. Where is the property tax going…if a Cork person pays the bones of £400 for a house valued at E.300,000…we don’t know….that needs to be nailed down…

I do wish to acknowledge this Council’s innovative utilisation of a proportion of rates to generate and grow new business activity. It is also essential that we continue to explore ways and mechanisms through which was as a council use the revenue we generate plus continue to provide value for money. This city needs to continue to fight for itself.  This council’s ring-fencing of 1% of rates income over the last two years for economic development measures in the Cork region will mature.

I strongly believe that utilising revenue to support economic development in the region will further increase opportunities for economic recovery and growth. Indeed going forward if that figure was increased marginally we would be able to put some of the economic projects on a surer footing. I would urge those businesses who are currently experiencing difficulty in the payment of their commercial rates to contact this local authority to try to come to some understanding regarding overdue payments.

Ends.