Leitrim County Council have adopted a €60m Budget for 2025. Today’s budget meeting heard details for the upcoming year’s budget and a 530 million euro capital investment plan. The issue of raising commercial rates in the County was the only sticking point when it came to adopting the local authority budget for 2025. Council management argued at today’s meeting that increased ring fenced funding from commercial rates will ensure the local authority can meet match funding requirements for government grants of up to 250 million euro over the next six years. Independent Councillor Des Guckian objected to the increase citing a letter delivered to council members from the Carrick Chamber of Commerce asking them to retain the existing rate. He was initially supported by Sinn Fein Councillors Brendan Barry, Roisin Kenny and Cormac Flynn, who expressed their concern for local businesses in having extra costs levied on them.
Council Chief Executive Joseph Gilhooly warned members that a failure to pass the increase would see the council having to radically reshape the Capital Investment plan, leading to the shelving of a number of high profile projects. These would include the Shannonside Recreational centre, a potential new library for Carrick on Shannon, the South Leitrim Greenway and a number of other planned initiatives. Following several testy exchanges between councillor Guckian and a number of representatives supporting the rise, the motion was passed after the Sinn Fein Councillors did not back a formal challenge. The Budget itself saw an increased spend of 7 million euro on last year and an 87% increase on ten years ago. €12.7m has been allocated to housing and building, while €18.2m has been set aside for road transport and safety.
Water Services will see a budget of €3.2m as the local authority continues to divest themselves of the service, as Uisce Eireann is currently assuming responsibility for the utility. Close to ten million euro has been budgeted for the Development Management to cover areas such as forward planning, tourism promotion and economic development. Environmental Services such as Waste Management, the Fire Service and anti-littering initiatives will operate under a budget of €6.8m, a substantial increase over the last two years to facilitate the new pay deal for firefighters and increased recruitment. Recreational and amenity, which covers such things as the Library Service, arts programmes and the operation of leisure facilities will work with four and a half million euro. Other areas included in today’s Leitrim County Council Budget included €1.5m for local representation and civic leadership and 3.5 million for maintenance and improvement of local authority housing.
