Members met today to give the green light for the local authority’s day-to-day expenditure next year.
However, the big stumbling block was the Council’s proposed increase of 5 per cent in commercial rates to help towards the increased budget.
The Council is hoping to increase its budget by more than €25.1 million (12 per cent) on the 2025 figure.
In his introduction to the draft budget, Chief Executive John McLaughlin pointed out since the last commercial rates increase in 2018, there’s been huge inflation in the intervening seven years which has had the effect of eroding the spending power of existing monies, and that necessitated a 5 per cent increase in the commercial rate.
Fianna Fáil members met with senior council officials, and afterwards said that they needed clarification on a number of issues, but other parties and independents did not get time to do so in the afternoon.
A debate followed with some councillors looking for a vote to take place, and others preferring to see an adjournment to allow for access to officials to discuss matters further.
Amid some heated exchanges, it was eventually decided to adjourn matters until Wednesday, December 3.
