Recommendation to maintain Mayo property tax at current level

THE base rate for Local Property Tax (LPT) in Mayo should be maintained at its current level for the coming year.

That's the recommendation being made to councillors ahead of a meeting tomorrow (Monday) to decide the rate of LPT for 2022.

Last year members resolved to vary the rate upwards by 10%, resulting in additional income of €1 million for Mayo County Council. Of that, €200,000 was spent on hedge/verge cutting - doubling the spend on these works - with €800,000 used as match funding, which allowed the council increased capacity to support capital projects in the county.

The recommendation is based on an overall objective of maintaining the provision of key services and providing financial capacity for match funding, which generates significant investments in capital projects in towns and villages throughout the county.

Members of the public were invited to make submissions on the LPT for next year - just two were received.

One said the system was flawed and to even suggest increasing the tax would be an 'insult' to every resident in the county. The second person who made a submission said they saw very little return on their property tax as a rural dweller, paying for their own water, sewage disposal, and having no lights or litter collections.

The decision to vary the rate of LPT is a reserved function of the elected members.