Redraw of city boundaries will hit county’s pocket

The merger of Galway’s two local authorities – and the potential extension of the city’s boundaries – would have a serious impact on the county’s finances, it was warned this week.

And there would be a knock-on effect on the delivery of services for the county, councillors claimed.

Last month, a five-person independent review group was put together by Environment Minister Alan Kelly to examine the possibility of amalgamating Galway City and County Councils, and extending the boundary of the city to include Barna, Oranmore and Moycullen.

At a Council meeting this week, Cllr Tim Broderick said the local authority is currently in the process of extending the Chamber in County Hall at significant cost, and now a review was being carried out on possibly merging the Councils.

“This flies in the face of proper thinking,” he said.

Council Chief Executive Kevin Kelly said he that he and his city counterpart will be meeting with the review committee in a couple of weeks’ time, and he hoped to be in a better position at that stage to provide clarity to councillors for their March meeting.

“We didn’t know this [review] was going to come onto our desks. We haven’t done an analysis yet on the impact of the extension of boundaries, but there would be an impact on commercial rates,” said Mr Kelly.

He said the vast Parkmore industrial estates area – which is in the county area – would be one area where rates income would be affected.

Cllr Jimmy McClearn said: “This would have very serious implications for the county in terms of rates – it could take in Oranmore, Barna and Moycullen where a lot of our ratepayers are based.

“No matter what the position is in terms of compensation, it will be tapered – there will be a definite timeline and it will come to an end.

“As councillors, we all have a duty to inform the public. If there is an extension of the city, it will have implications for the delivery of services for the county down the road,” said Cllr McClearn.