This article is from page 22 of the 2009-12-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 22 JPG
A CAUTIONARY budget for the county that outlines serious concerns about companies and _ businesses closing, and predicts a further drop in council income sources was un- (JOM) I ECOL AYA
At a special meeting the council members unanimously approved the 2010 budget which is five per cent less than last year with a gross ex- penditure of €112.6 million.
In drawing up and passing the budget the council had to use a cer- tain amount of guess work as the Minister for the Environment, Her- itage and Local Government John Gormley (GP) still had not advised the council of its Local Government Fund allocation for 2010.
The budget was framed therefore on the assumption that the fund would be 7.5 per cent less than last year or €1.1 million.
County Manager Tom Coughlan told the members of the council that the reduction in any public sector pay, predicted in the national budg- et, and the addition of additional sources funding such as the charge introduced on non-principal private residents, would be off set by this 7.5 OX ee MR LU(eLBLO IE
The budget has also been prepared on the presumption that a €400,000 allocation for water services will be forthcoming, an accepted additional risk to the income for budget 2010.
The council agreed to maintain the commercial rates at its current level in a bid to support the business com- munity.
According to the budget estimates “the effective valuation of Clare
County Council has increased over that provided for in 2009 generating additional income of €62,000”
“While this valuation listing in- crease 1S positive, an indepth review of our commercial valuation base identifies an increased number of va- cant premises,’ reported Mr Cough- Tee
“In addition the increase in the number of companies closing down, going into liquidation, examinership
and receivership in 2009 to date is a cause of serious concern.
The budget therefore provides for an increased level or rates refunds and irrecoverable rates of €500,000 over 2009 levels.
This represents an overall cost of approximately eight per cent on the eI Kem oyster
The council remains in the dark re- garding its exact funding for roads, as this Government Allocation is not
usually announced until early in the New Year.
The budget passed on Friday is therefore based on the presumption that the road grant for 2010 will re- main the same as 2009.
Roads own recourses are the only expenditure area that has been in- creased over 2009 levels.