DUBLIN CITY Council is to seek a share of income tax, stamp duty and VAT generated in the city, as well as the power to levy rates on government buildings, schools, universities and hospitals, in what is to be the biggest change in local government funding in 30 years.
The council is making its radical funding proposals in its submission to the Government's recently established Commission on Taxation, which will determine the future of local government funding.
In its submission prepared by the council's finance department in conjunction with consultants Grant Thornton and presented to councillors for the first time yesterday, the council is seeking not only a share of taxes generated in the city but the power to levy its own taxes and decide the level of those taxes.
Dubliners and visitors to the city may see no effect on their pockets if the council gets a share of taxes which currently go straight into Government coffers. However, if the council is given the power to raise its own taxes and charges, and determine their level, residents could face new environmental charges, increased planning costs and higher motor tax, while tourists could have to pay a hotel bed charge.
The proposals, even if granted only in part, would represent the greatest change to local government funding since domestic rates were abolished in 1978. Although the council's proposals are radical, it has reason to be optimistic given that Minister for Environment John Gormley has said he wants to increase the powers of local government.
In addition to securing new revenue-raising powers, the council is seeking to divest itself of the burden of funding some services.
Specifically, the council wants central government to fund the waiver scheme that exempts lower-income households from paying bin charges, and to fund emergency services such as fire and ambulance services which are currently funded by the council.
Also, where the Government refuses to allow the council to levy rates, such as in the case of domestic water charges, the State should bear the full economic cost of providing these services, and not the council, it contends.
One of the biggest revenue-generating streams in the council's submission would be the abolition of the exemption for public properties from commercial rates. The submission states that by not making the contribution commercial premises do, government departments and their staff are benefiting from the city's services without paying for them.
Councillors yesterday welcomed the submission but said it should be noted that in the cases of schools and hospitals the relevant government department would have to pay the levy, not the particular institution.
The submission also states that a hotel tax of just €1 or €2 a night would raise revenue in the region of €10 million to €20 million per year.
A share of taxes such as VAT and income tax would recognise the council's contribution to the national economy and any charges levied for local services such as processing planning applications should be determined by the council.
