Local government reform to blame for council cash crisis

The financial crisis that is being experienced by Galway County Council could have been averted if local government reform had not been introduced in 2012.

That’s the claim from two independent Councillors who pointed to the fact that the local authority had to accommodate an additional nine members on foot of that reform.

The Council also had to fork out more than €600,000 on modification works to County Hall on Prospect Hill to accommodate the expanded 39-strong Council.

On top of that, each member receives expenses and is allocated a fund which they use to carry out projects in their local area.

The increased number has also resulted in meetings of Galway County Council taking much longer to conclude, with so many voices who want to speak on issues.

Last week, Galway County Council voted through a 15% increase in the Local Property Tax – but two independent councillors say that this would not have been necessary but for the current Fine Gael-led Government.

Cllr James Charity from Annaghdown and Tuam’s Cllr Shaun Cunniffe both agree that hundreds of thousands of euros have been wasted because of the reforms that were introduced by the former Minister Phil Hogan, who is now a European Commissioner.

Now, Galway County Council has been urged to come up with more “imaginative” ways of raising revenue rather than targeting householders.

According to Cllr Charity, the county has lost millions in tourism revenue through its failure to support initiatives that would result in major visitor numbers coming to the county.

“We spent €600,000 doing up the County Council building in order to accommodate an additional nine councillors which was a pure waste of money. This was nothing short of insane.

“As it stands, we are not collecting rents and yet we are increasing the Property Tax,” declared Cllr James Charity.

The independent councillor from Annaghdown said that he was not happy with the arrangement between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail in the Council chamber and added that it would be more in their line to urge the collection of outstanding monies owed to the local authority.

Meanwhile, Cllr Cunniffe also spoke about the money that has been spent on the refurbishment of County Hall on Prospect Hill. He described it as a waste of resources that could have been put to better use.

The Tuam councillor is a strong advocate of the provision of a greenway between Athenry and Tuam along the old Western Rail Corridor and he believed that if the Council used some imagination, they could use this for some financial benefit.

“The Council just seem to want to focus on the easy targets like the householders or the business community by simply imposing hikes in charges rather than using their imagination to turn the resources they have in their possession into worthwhile income,” Cllr Cunniffe added.