Councillors support review of boundary extension contribution

The annual contribution paid by Galway City Council to Galway County Council to compensate for an historic boundary extension, should be reviewed.

Several city councillors have expressed concern that the City Council was still paying an annual fee of €1 million to the County Council for the historic boundary revision that occurred in the mid-1980s.

The deal that was done when the city boundary was extended into the county included compensation for the loss of commercial rates revenue.

Fianna Fáil’s Ollie Crowe said the City had been paying that money for too long and it should cease.

He was one of several City Councillors who queried why city was still paying compensation to the county for a deal done nearly 30 years ago.

City Council Chief Executive Brendan McGrath said the payment should be re-examined but as matters stand the city is “statutorily obliged” to provide a payment of €1 million yearly.

It was brought in by way of a statutory instrument and it needed legislative change to get rid of it, he said.

“It was brought in to compensate the County Council for the loss of revenue from rates arising out of the boundary extension in 1986,” he said.

Mr McGrath said the Parkmore area of the city used to come within the county boundary. He pointed out that the city benefits from the rates paid on businesses in the city area of Parkmore that used to be county territory.

Meanwhile, the city is going to seek funding from the county to run the city dog pound.

Independent City Councillor Terry O’Flaherty said the city dog pound was a shared service but the City Council was not getting anything from the County Council to run it.

Councillor O’Flaherty said many of the animals at the city dog pound were from the county, and the county Council should share the financial burden of providing the service.

She proposed a motion, seconded by Fine Gael’s Pearse Flannery, agreed unanimously, that the City Council would write to the County Council seeking costs for the dog pound.

It emerged at the meeting that a similar motion had been passed at an SPC meeting but the letter was never sent.

Director of Services, Tom Connell assured the meeting that he would comply with elected members wishes and send a letter.

Elsewhere, Brendan McGrath confirmed the City Council was in discussions with the County Council to share more services. He said the two local authorities would continue to liaise on back-office sharing of functions to get efficiencies that do not impact on staff.