Cutbacks to services across the county

Date Published: 18-Dec-2008

Dramatic cutbacks in spending on county roads, grants to community organisations, libraries, leisure facilities and tourism are the key features which marked the 2009 Budget passed by Galway County Councillors this week.

In addition to the spending cuts, the council is to implement a 1.5% commercial rate and an eleven cent increase in water charges for the non domestic sector – including farms – as a means of making up for the serious shortfall in income it expects to experience in the coming months.

In what was described by a number of veteran county councillors as the most stringent budget ever agreed by the council, the New Year will see a major tightening of the belt after ten years of a spending spree.

Council management will have to begin the process of cutbacks on its own doorstep as it is now under orders from central government to slash its payroll by 3% – this will require them to make a saving in salary expenditure in 2009 in the order of €1.8million.

While not stating explicitly that this will mean…