SECOND HOME:PLANS TO fund local authorities through a new €200 annual tax on second homes have fallen flat, with some city and county councillors saying the measure will not compensate for the failure to adequately fund local government.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley said the charge on holiday homes and investment properties, which could net up to €80 million for local authorities, was a "watershed" in local government funding and he expected a "warm welcome" from local authorities for the measure.
However, councillors said the money would not offset the 5 per cent reduction in local government funding from the exchequer, and that local authorities were being used as tax collectors for the Government.
"This is a con job. Local authorities are being used as the collector generals for the Government," said Dublin city councillor Dermot Lacey (Labour).
Although the vast majority of the State's rental properties are located in Dublin, the city will not get to keep the proportion of the charge it generates but will have to collect it for distribution through a central fund.
"I'm actually really disappointed with this. I favour such taxes, but I favour local government raising money and spending money. This is going to cost us as a city money to administer; we are going to be tax collectors for the Government who might in their goodness give us some proportion of it back," Mr Lacey said.
Lord Mayor of Dublin Eibhlin Byrne (FF) said she would be pushing for the city to be funded proportionately.
Mr Gormley said the money had to be centrally distributed to prevent some local authorities benefiting more than others. Rural local authorities with high numbers of holiday homes will also lose out by not getting to keep the money generated in their areas.
Wexford county councillor Anna Fenlon said the council was being expected to administer the new charge while coping with a 3 per cent cut in staff.
"The Government is leaving the local authorities absolutely starved of cash. They now expect us, with a 3 per cent cut in payroll, to administer this new tax. That we won't ever get the value of."
Director general of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) Tom Parlon said he was concerned that the charge would continue to rise each year.
"This is one that will have to be watched very carefully. There is a danger that if the Minister finds himself short of cash the charge could rise to €500 or €1,000 in future years."
