CITY TRIBUNE
Local Property Tax set to soar
Over three quarters of all houses in the city have been ‘self-valued’ at €200,000 or under, according to figures released by Galway City Council in relation to the Local Property Tax (LPT).
Just over 30% of homes in the city have been valued in the €100,000 to €150,000 bracket while a further 27.4% of urban houses are self-valued as being in the €150,000 to €200,000 category.
Almost one in five houses in the city (19.4%) have been valued in the zero to €100,000 price bracket with only 6.5% of houses valued at being worth more than €300,000 which is now close to the average sale price in the city.
City householders though will be facing some major decisions in 2019 when the worth of houses must be revalued by homeowners for Local Property Tax purposes.
If the recovery in house prices continues at its present rate, then it could mean LPT increases of over 50% for homeowners in the city.
The data on the city house valuations was given to city councillors in a report from City Council Chief Executive, Brendan McGrath.
Sinn Féin councillor, Máiréad Farrell had proposed a reduction in the Local Property Tax of 15% – the motion was defeated with the Council voting to leave the LPT at its current rate.
Cllr. Farrell pointed out that current valuations of the LPT were based on the 2013 value of homes but this was set to change based on 2019 valuations.
“We have seen that the value of properties has significantly increased in Galway city in recent times. Since the 2013 valuations, the prices of houses in Galway City has increased on average by 48%. With the rising prices of houses this is set to increase further by the time of the re-valuation in 2019.
“This rise in the value of houses will not only change the amount owed by each household, but may also change the band in which the household sits, therefore increasing the tax even further with households being hit twice,” said Cllr. Farrell.
As things stand in the city, householders with a property valued at under €100,000 pay an LPT of €90 per annum moving up to €225 for those in the €100,000 to €150,000 price valuation and €315 for people in the €150,000 to €200,000 bracket.
Moving up the value scale, there is an annual payment of €405 for homeowners in the €200,000 to €250,000 bracket; €495 for those in the €250,000 to €300,000 bracket and €585 for people in the €300,000 to €350,000 price.
However, city home owners will face some crunch self-valuation decisions in 2019, when all properties are due to be revalued in relation to LPT, with the new valuation clicking in from November 1 of that year.
According to the property website Daft.ie, the average house price in the city last July had risen to €268,535 – many local auctioneers now estimate that figure to be over €300,000.
Daft.ie in July had a figure of €215,000 for the asking price for a three-bed semi in the city; €372,000 for a four-bed bungalow and €449,000 for a five-bed detached.
According to the report presented by Chief Executive, Brendan McGrath at the last City Council meeting, one submission received on the LPT charge read as follows:
“I hope, that if anything, you will consider lowering the LPT which already has a crippling effect on our budget. The cost of living is very hard to meet.
“We don’t see anything being done with the exorbitant property tax. Please do reduce it and give us a break from the relentless taxes,” the submission stated.
However, in the conclusion of his report to the City Council, Mr. McGrath said that the LPT was a vital source of income to the Council which ‘we would like to protect and increase in 2018’.
“An increase would provide Galway City Council with the funding to further enhance the provision of existing services and amenities and to plan for the provision of new facilities and events for the city.
“I would ask you to consider this in your deliberation on any variation in the rate,” said Mr. McGrath.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
The new Salmon Weir pedestrian and cycle bridge will be officially opened to the public next Friday, May 26.
Work on the €10 million bridge got underway in April 2022, before the main structure was hoisted into place in early December.
A lunchtime tape-cutting ceremony will take place on Friday, as the first pedestrians and cyclists traverse the as-yet-unnamed bridge.
The Chief Executive of Galway City Council, Brendan McGrath, previously said the bridge, once opened, would remove existing conflicts between pedestrians, cyclists and traffic “as well as facilitating the Cross-City Link public transport corridor over the existing 200-year-old bridge”.
The naming of the new bridge has been under discussion by the Council’s Civic Commemorations Committee since late last year.
One name that has been in the mix for some time is that of the first woman in Europe to graduate with an engineering degree – Alice Perry.
Ms Perry, who was from Wellpark, graduated from Queen’s College Galway (now University of Galway) in 1906. The university’s engineering building is named in her honour.
The bridge was built by Jons Civil Engineering firm in County Meath and was assembled off-site before being transported to Galway. Funding for the project was provided in full by the National Transport Authority and the European Regional Development Fund.
(Photo: Sheila Gallagher captured the city’s new pedestrian footbridge being raised on the south side of the Salmon Weir Bridge in December. It will officially open next Friday, May 26).
From the Galway City Tribune – Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, Kieran O’Donnell was labelled a “disgrace” for overturning councillors’ decisions to rezone land in the new City Development Plan.
Minister O’Donnell (pictured) confirmed in a letter to Council Chief Executive Brendan McGrath last week that he was reversing 25 material alternations made by councillors to the CDP 2023-29. He made the decision on the advice of Office of Planning Regulator (OPR).
Minister O’Donnell directed that 14 land parcels that were subject to land-use zoning changes by councillors as part of the Material Alterations to the Draft CDP should be reversed.
He directed that a further 11 land parcels in the city should become “unzoned”.
The Minister found that the CDP had not been made in a manner consistent with recommendations of the OPR, which required specific changes to the plan to ensure consistency with the national planning laws and guidelines.
At last week’s Council meeting Cllr Eddie Hoare (FG) asked for clarity on the process by which councillors could rezone the lands that had been changed by the Minister’s direction.
Cllr Declan McDonnell said, “What he [Minister O’Donnell] has done is an absolute disgrace”.
And he asked: “Do we have to have another development plan meeting to deal with it?”
Both Cllrs Hoare and McDonnell wondered what would become of the lands that were rezoned or unzoned by the ministerial direction.
Mr McGrath said the Council had put forward an argument in favour of retaining the material alterations in the plan, but ultimately the Minister sided with OPR.
He said if councillors want to make alterations to the new plan, they could go through the process of making a material alteration but this was lengthy.
The Save Roscam Peninsula campaign welcomed the Minister’s decision.
In a statement to the Galway City Tribune, it said the direction would mean the Roscam village area on the Roscam Peninsula will be unzoned and a number of land parcels would revert back to agriculture/high amenity.
A spokesperson for the campaign said: “the material alterations made by city councillors following lobbying by developers continued the long-standing practice of councillors facilitating a developer-led plan rather than an evidence- and policy-based plan that meets the needs of the city.
“The Minister’s direction is an important step in restoring confidence in the planning system. It is clear from the City Council’s own evidence on future housing projections that there was no requirement to zone these lands for residential purposes in order to meet the needs of the targeted population increase up to 2029,” the spokesperson added.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
