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Dublin City Councillors Vote To Keep 15% Local Property Tax Cut


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Dublin City councillors have voted to keep a 15% local property tax cut.

While the Green Party and Labour had called for a 'moderate increase' to the rate due to the council facing a €39 million deficit, councillors voted by 34-21 to retain the lower rate.

It means the LPT will now stay at the same rate as last year in the council area.

Although the Government sets a basic rate for the LPT, local authorities have the annual discretion to increase or decrease the rate by up to 15%.

Tweeting after this evening's vote, Fianna Fáil Councillor Racheal Batten suggested the tax is unfair and does not assess people's ability to pay.

She said: "At a time when Dublin citizens are going through so much hardship we could not support an increase."

Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon, meanwhile, said the tax cut will mean €12 million less for the council's funds - arguing that it will "disproportionately benefit wealthy homeowners".

He said: "Never mind the arguments we have every year - this is a particularly bizarre year to say 'what I think the city needs is a very small tax cut'?

"This just seems like a really bad year to undercut the funding for public services."

Labour's Darragh Moriarty, meanwhile, said: "This pandemic has shown us we need to invest more in our city, not less.

"Labour and Greens tonight called for a moderate increase to the LPT but all other parties gave a tax cut to well-off homeowners."

It comes after the Finance Minister last week deferred the revaluation date for the LPT to November 2021 - meaning households will not face an increased bill for 2021.

Main image: File photo of Dublin City Council offices. Picture by: Brian Lawless/PA Archive/PA Images

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