Dublin city councillors vote to leave rate of local property tax unchanged for 2024

Dublin city councillors have voted to leave the rate of local property tax (LPT) unchanged in 2024.

Councillors for the Labour Party, the Green Party and the Social Democrats put down a motion that would have resulted in a higher rate of LPT for 2024. The motion said that the resulting funds of €14.5 million should be divided into €12 million for works to improve public streets and €2.5 million for the Area Discretionary Fund.

However, the motion was defeated when it came before the council on Monday evening, with councillors instead passing a motion from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin and People Before Profit that will see the lowest possible rate, of minus 15 per cent, retained.

The Local Property Tax, which is based on the value of a property, has a base rate that can be varied by plus or minus 15 per cent by each local authority. Dublin City Council usually votes to reduce it by the maximum amount possible.

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The Local Property Tax calculator on the Revenue Commissioners website shows that a house valued between €262,501 and €350,000 would incur a tax charge for 2023 of €315 if the base rate was applied. The same house would incur an annual tax of €267, or €48 less, if the local authority reduced the base rate by 15 per cent.

“This year, with the cost of living increases, the cost of heating homes adding to the burden of families, [increasing the rate] isn’t the thing to do,” said Fianna Fáil councillor Tom Brabazon.

Speaking in advance of the vote on Monday, Hazel De Nortúin of PBP said she and her PBP colleague would be supporting the retention of the lowest rate but it was frustrating to see the motions from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, who were in Government.

“If we had proper funding from central Government we wouldn’t be using the property tax to prop us up,” she said. “We have always said it is not a progressive tax, it is a flat tax rate.”

Michael Pidgeon of the Green Party said it was frustrating that the lower rate was always being supported by “a weird unholy alliance of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and People Before Profit.”

Fingal County Council voted last year to reduce the base rate by 7.5 per cent, up from the minus 10 per cent of previous years, and to do so for two years, ie 2023 and 2024.

The increased revenue has been useful for organising such activities as summer festivals that have been beneficial for the community, said John-Kingsley Onwumereh of Fianna Fáil. “It’s been a good thing.”

However Natalie Treacy of Sinn Féin was critical of the council’s vote last year and said her party would like to see “the lowest tax, the highest return for the people, not for the Government”.