Limerick City and County Council votes to retain Local Property Tax at current rate

THERE will be no change to the Local Property Tax (LPT) for Limerick homeowners in 2025.

Councillors at Limerick City and County Council voted in favour of keeping the LPT and its variation rate at 2024 levels for 2025 at a full meeting of the council on yesterday.

This decision secures funding of an additional €2.36m for Limerick in 2025. Projects funded by the LPT in 2024 included a new library van, new road sweepers, a velocity patcher to fix potholes, two new rollers and a chip spreader.

Mayor of Limerick, John Moran said: “I very much support the decision to raise these valuable funds for Limerick. The additional €2.36 million raised through the Local Property Tax will support the provision of essential services for Limerick and its citizens.”

Director General of Limerick City and County Council, Dr Pat Daly said: “Thanks to the decision made by elected members, these additional funds from the LPT will guarantee provision of important public services in areas including road maintenance, parks and recreational facilities, community development projects, waste management and environmental initiatives, libraries, fire service and tourism development.”

Speaking at the council meeting, Cllr Michael Collins said:

"The most defining factor for me is the fact that with the increases we imposed that last ten years, that money has gone back to our communities and I've seen that first hand and that's a huge thing for me making this decision."

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Cllr Jerome Scanlan said he was committed to the 15% rate which had been of "major benefit to communities throughout the area."

Cllr Sharon Benson added that Sinn Féin's position on the property tax hadn't changed and proposed that the LPT be kept at the base rate. "We're also supportive of the one year resolution. We don't agree that it should be set for five years."

She continued: "This council forgets where the money is coming from. People out there are still very hard pressed with the cost of living."

Cllr Conor Sheehan said he supported the principle of the tax and said it was a "tax on wealth." 

"I understand what Cllr Benson is saying. People are hard pressed but at the same time I don't think giving somebody back additional maybe 12 or or 14 or 16 euro in the space of one calendar year is going to be the difference between them heating and eating and not heating and eating."

The LPT has also facilitated an increase in road maintenance; in particular, the amount of Gully Inlet works being carried out on Regional and Local Roads.

Additional funds from the LPT were also allocated to the Fire Service, Library Service and Tourism Development.