Cork County Council budget rises to €458m

CORK County Council’s annual budget received the unanimous approval of the elected members.

The council’s chief executive Valerie O’Sullivan had proposed a budget with a revenue of €458m, up €55m from last year’s spend of €403m, and a proposed capital expenditure of €1.5bn over the next three years.

There will be no increase in commercial rates, no increase in the local property tax (though all of the revenue collected will be retained in Cork for the first time), and no increase in the rent for local authority houses.

There would also be an increase in funding for roads, social housing, and the creation of a new service enhancement fund and the maintenance at 2023 levels of the general municipal allocation, the town development and village enhancement funds.

A revolt over outdoor staffing levels failed to materialise.

The outdoor staffing levels had attracted the concern of councillors at the previous meeting of the county council and Fianna Fáil councillor Joe Carroll had suggested that approval for the budget be withheld until this question was addressed.

Ms O’Sullivan addressed the issue in comments before introducing the budget and said that the current levels of outdoor staffing levels would be maintained and, acknowledging that due to illness and other issues, the actual level was 354, pledged that recruitment would take place to ensure a full complement of 374 was on the ground.

Councillor Joe Carroll said that while the budget was positive in an overall sense, he said that there shouldn’t be “universal” happiness with the proposed budget and he, in particular, wasn’t happy that the number of ground staff was sufficient.

The Mayor of County Cork Frank O’Flynn welcomed the fact that the budget was the first in many years to be ‘balanced’ and pointed out that the Council’s €7m+ reserve wouldn’t need to be dipped into.

'PRO-COMMUNITY, FAMILY, BUSINESS'

He said he was delighted to introduce the budget which he described as “pro-family, pro-community, and pro-business”.

The mayor also remarked on the decision, after many years of campaigning by him and Michael Hegarty, to ensure that Cork County Council could retain the monies generated by the local property tax.

This was a theme returned to by many councillors, including Alan O’Connor of the Green Party and Fianna Fáil’s Gearóid Murphy, who urged a reconsideration of the 100% refund on commercial rates for owners of vacant buildings.

The Midleton-based councillor Susan McCarthy said she would normally agree with a reduction in the rates refund on vacant properties but, in the context of this year’s floods, she was “very, very happy” that this refund was in place for this year.

The capital budget, which was presented by the council’s finance director Jeremy Canty promised a massive investment of €927.69m in housing, with €462m for social housing, and an additional €216.37m for affordable homes. This represented the bulk (64%) of the capital spend of €1.5bn proposed for 2024-2026.

Responding to concerns raised by councillor Gobnait Moynihan that Cork City Council might be contesting the annual boundary extension payment — set this year at €15.6m as it’s index linked — Ms O’Sullivan said that the money would be paid. “Because it’s the law, they signed up to it, it’s very simple,” she said.

After a lengthy meeting the resolution to adapt the budget was approved with 46 councillors voting for and none against.