Owners of city’s vacant properties to pay rates

City commercial rates will remain the same in 2015 for businesses but owners of vacant properties face hefty penalties under new proposals.

Galway City Council’s draft budget for next year proposes that commercial rates will remain unchanged – it will be the fifth year in a row that the rate will be kept at €65.46 per euro of rateable valuation.

However, for the first time ever in Galway City, the owners of vacant properties will have to pay rates.

The City Council Chief Executive, Brendan McGrath, in the draft budget, is proposing to raise some €1 million in additional income by levying commercial rates on empty properties.

Currently vacant properties in the city are exempt from rates – the owners pay them but they receive a 100% rebate.

Following a change in the law, it is now possible to reduce the level of rebate in 2015.

Mr McGrath says he has framed the draft budget on the basis that the level of refund on vacant properties will be reduced to 50%, meaning owners of empty properties will roughly now have to pay at a rate in the Euro of €33.

Mr McGrath is recommending that the 50% rebate be applied city-wide and not just in the city centre. This proposal will have to be decided on at next week’s budget meeting and City Councillors are likely to face opposition to the move from owners of vacant properties. But if Councillors reject the 50% rebate proposal then they will be asked to find €1 million elsewhere in savings.

Rate income in Galway City amounts to about €35 million a year, according to the draft budget, and therefore accounts for approximately 46% of the local authority’s total income for the year.

Mr McGrath warned elected representatives that, “the budgetary position remains difficult and challenging due to growing demands on expenditure”.

Mr McGrath, in his briefing, added: “The officials of Galway City Council are very conscious of the efforts of the elected members to protect the delivery of frontline services, to promote economic development throughout Galway, to protect employment and, in addition, to protect the city’s past investment in its infrastructure and its productive assets.

“Equally, there is awareness of the impacts of the recession on all its citizens and consequently there are no proposed increases in charges for City Council services.”

The draft budget will be debated next Monday.