Sligo County Council is in real danger of being abolished, its chairman, Cllr Séamus Kilgannon, warned yesterday. He said that unless members are convinced that they do not have a role in setting water rates, "we could be in big trouble".
Last month members voted by a margin of two to reject the council's budget for 2008 after a protracted 10-hour debate in which the main stumbling block was an increase in water rates for farmers.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley, who was recently informed of the council's failure to pass its budget, has given the local authority an extension until February 18th to allow it to do so.
A spokesman for the Minister confirmed that if the new deadline is not met, he can exercise his powers under the Local Government Act 2001 to remove the council and appoint a commissioner to carry out its functions. He said that if the estimates are not passed by Monday week the Minister will then consider "what step to take".
Cllr Kilgannon, one of only two Fianna Fáil councillors to vote for the estimates, confirmed that some of his party colleagues were still "entrenched" in their opposition to the budget.
The chairman said he was hopeful that this "roadblock" could be passed once people realised it was a function of the county manager and not the councillors to set the water rate. The manager's decision to increase the rate for non-domestic users by 3 per cent has provoked fury, given that Sligo had the highest rate in the country last year and is set to be in the top three in 2008.
Cllr Kilgannon said he "certainly" understood people's anger about the water rate but he maintained that councillors could not alter it. "As chairman, the last thing you want to preside over is the council collapsing around you."
The estimates meeting has been rescheduled for Friday, February 15th, and the chairman said members could also sit on that Saturday and Sunday if necessary. If the budget is passed by midnight on February 18th the Minister can grant a further extension or can abolish the council.
Cllr Kilgannon said that judging by the "fairly strong" tone of the correspondence from the Minister, he believed the February 18th deadline was final.
It would "not really be democracy" if councillors who had lobbied so hard for a range of projects were "left outside looking in" until the local elections in 18 months.
At the last budget meeting the estimates were rejected by 12 votes to 10, with Fine Gael members voting in favour along with two Fianna Fáil councillors. The majority of Fianna Fáil councillors joined Labour and Independent councillors in rejecting the estimates.
