No change in rates as row erupts over Buckley-Byrne proposal

There was tension in the council chamber on Wednesday evening last after councillors had appeared to agree the budget for 2012. A row erupted over whether to cut commercial rates after Independent Councillor Sheila Buckley Byrne suggested a rates cut of 2% after the draft budget had adopted. Cllr Kevin 'Boxer' Moran accused Cllr Buckley Byrne of seeking the limelight, saying she had never mentioned a cut of 2% in any of the in-committee meetings the councillors had held and came out with this suggestion when the media was present. The councillors had first had a discussion about the county charge, which is a charge that Athlone Town Council pays to Westmeath County Council for services provided by the county council. Cllr Kieran Molloy (FF) raised this issue, saying he was concerned that the charge had increased by 80% since 2008 and he was worried that this signified the removal of services from Athlone and said he didn't want to facilitate any Government that wanted to do way with town councils. His party colleague Cllr Aengus O'Rourke also expressed concern, saying the increase of €180,000 for the county charge for 2012 wiped out any savings made from cuts to salaries. Cllr O'Rourke added that a third of the intake from rates in Athlone was spent on the county charge and he wanted to see what the council got for it. He said he would like to see a two-year forecast so that the councillors had some idea of what to expect in the next two years. Cllr Sheila Buckley Byrne agreed and said people were negotiating better deals for services now and yet the council was seeing the county charge increase even though there were better services in Athlone now, such as improvements in the Coosan water scheme, meaning Athlone was less dependent on the county for services. "When we set out in 2009 we hoped to reduce the rates. It makes it very difficult to do that when the county charge keeps increasing. If we keep seeing the county charge increasing year on year we can't do anything meaningful for rates," she said. County Manager Danny McLoughlin said that if the council was to charge the county charge at an economic rate it would cost a lot more and said Athlone Town Council was not paying its way. He said he had not sought to take any services from Athlone Town Council and he didn't have any problems with services for the entire county being provided from Athlone. In proposing the budget for adoption, Cllr Mark Cooney (FG) said that the Chamber of Commerce had recently claimed that the council was trying to damage business and that a one per cent rates decrease would do very little for most businesses. He said even a 5% decrease wouldn't have a huge impact as it would mean a decrease of €450 for a business paying €9,000 in rates. He said he proposed the budget be adopted with the adjustments already suggested. Fianna Fáil's Cllr Kieran Molloy said he had taken exception to the claim from the Chamber also and said the council had worked hard this year and last year to ensure the rates were not increased. He second Cllr Cooney's proposal. Cllr Sheila Buckley Byrne said she knew there was no great appetite to do anything with the rates and said after the presentation the Chamber had made to the councillors she had thought it would be possible to reduce the rates by one to two per cent until she saw the increase in the county charge. Giving a warning to the Fine Gael/Labour councillors, she said: "It might be, going forward, that you might need to look for support elsewhere if you're not going to look at it." Cllr Buckley Byrne then said she wanted a 2% reduction and when asked by Mayor Alan Shaw whether she wanted it this year or next, she said she wanted it this year and the money could be taken off the county charge. County Manager Danny McLoughlin said it was not possible to take the money from the county charge and asking for a reduction in the county charge would mean Westmeath County Council having to reopen its budget. Cllr Kevin 'Boxer' Moran said: "In fairness Sheila we met in committee and you never looked for a 2% decrease and now you come out with a proposal like this with the media here. We're all being lobbied and it's not fair to come in looking for the limelight tonight by saying you're looking for a decrease." Cllr Aengus O'Rourke said in fairness to Cllr Buckley Byrne he though she had began by setting out a marker for next year but became enveloped in it and said her suggestion was ill thought through. He said he was an average rate payer and 2% would mean a saving of €1.22 a week to him, which he said wouldn't save one job or one business in town. "I think this interjection at the 11th hour is pointless and it's populist," he said. Cllr Paul Hogan (SF) said he agreed with Cllr Moran and Cllr O'Rourke and said the councillors had discussed the budget and at no point did anyone say the rates should be decreased, which would mean some projects couldn't go ahead. "If you look at Athlone compared to Tullamore, Birr and Longford, people in Athlone, including businesses, are getting better value," said Cllr Hogan. Cllr Gabrielle McFadden (FG) said she was no longer involved in business but if she was a 2% decrease would mean a saving of €1.25 a week, but it would mean a loss of €106,000 from the council budget, which would cost jobs. She said she also objected to the Chamber statement and said it was rents that needed to be looked at, before saying she supported Cllr Cooney and Cllr Molloy. Cllr Kieran Molloy said this was his 25th budget and he didn't ever remember a budget being proposed and seconded and then someone coming forward with another proposal. He said Mayor Alan Shaw should see if there was support for the counter proposal and then take a vote and if there was no support that would be the end of it. Mayor Shaw asked if there was any support for Cllr Buckley Byrne's proposal, which there wasn't so the budget was adopted. He then asked Cllr Buckley Byrne if she wanted to respond to any of the comments but she declined.