This article is from page 18 of the 2012-05-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 18 JPG
DESPITE having its Government funding cut by more than nine million euro last year, Clare County Council ended the year with a deficit of just € 47,000.
Total Government funding received by Clare County Council during 2011 was € 66.8M, compared to € 78.2m in 2010.
The council’s financial department said it achieved considerable savings through a reduction in operating costs such as payroll and has some additional income generated under the Non Principal Private Residence (NPPR) scheme.
A significant reduction in staffing levels saved the council € 1.26 million in salaries, wages and pension costs.
The pay roll cost for 2011 was € 40.9 million, compared to € 42.2 million incurred the previous year.
Reduced call outs to the emergency services also had an impact on council savings.
Not surprisingly there was an in- crease in uncollected rates at the end of 2011 over the previous year yet the total cash intake had also increased by 10 per cent to € 34.5 million.
The council also managed to reduce its long-term loans by € 6.6 million.
Head of Finance Niall Barrett noted that the 2011 financial year was a difficult one that required the council to make expenditure savings in order to negate both the impact of a significant reduction in Government funding, and other income reductions.
“Taking into consideration the fiscal challenges faced by the Coun- cil, this result is welcomed and has arisen from effective budget management of both expenditure and income throughout the organisation,” he added.
“The key factors that influenced the financial performance of the council included an increased level of vacant properties impacting Commercial Rates and a general increase in irrecoverable charges due to the impact of the economic climate, NPPR income, payroll savings, the severe cold weather and resulting damage to water mains, the deferral of the am- ortization of unfunded capital balances relating to the Central Waste Management Facility at Ballyduffbeg; and critical maintenance and security issues at Traveller Accommodation sites,” he said.
“While the overall result is almost break-even and can be considered to be positive in the context, cognisance must be taken of the fact that this situation is only arrived at by virtue of the corrective actions taken by the council in reducing its expenditure in line with available funding in 2011,” added Mr. Barrett.