THE council has voted 26-8 in favour of increasing the district rate by over six per cent. At Monday’s monthly local authority meeting, Sinn Féin, the DUP, David Taylor (UUP, Slieve Gullion) and Jarlath Tinnelly (Independent, Crotlieve) all gave their backing to the 6.41 per cent increase, whilst the SDLP voted against it.
All five Alliance councillors abstained. The increase for the 12-month period will begin in April, and will see the domestic rate rise to 0.4676 pence – this will see an annual increase of £37.46 on an average property in the district (valued at £133,000) – whilst the non-domestic rate has been set at 29.0334 pence. In previous years, the domestic rate rose by 1.99 per cent in 2019, 2.85 per cent in 2020, 1.59 per cent in 2021, 1.95 per cent in 2022, and 5.99 per cent in 2023.
In a submission presented to the meeting, chief executive Marie Ward –as chief financial officer – stated that she was “satisfied that the revenue estimates presented should provide adequate financial resources to support the running costs of the council for 2024/2025, and that reasonable consideration of the financial risks to council have been made in the preparation of the estimates”.
Her report also highlighted “significant uncertainties” that had been taken into consideration, including those around the future impact of the current economic climate, its workforce and trade unions, the Executive’s draft budget, the rates support grant, Brexit and the Windsor Framework, and the council’s rates base going forward. Mrs Ward’s submission also said that “the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, inflation and rising interest rates will continue to affect council services in 2024/25, with assumptions made and included within budgets as to the continuing impact on our trading operations”.
The key factors in relation to this included council allowing for a four per cent National Pay Award in the next financial year, and a £370,000 increase in the local authority’s insurance budget. It is estimated that the council’s payroll will increase from this year’s total of £42,676,872 to £44,770,996 in 2024/25. Jonny Jackson (DUP, Rowallane) said that his party would be backing the rates increase, which he stated was “coupled with the challenging economic times which lie ahead”. He added: “We are at a figure that we are confident offers value for money: protecting community investment; ensuring value for money; ring-fencing funding for civic events; and, importantly, in line with our party manifesto as a direct promise to ratepayers, seeking to improve council services.”
Confirming her party’s support, Oonagh Hanlon (Sinn Féin, Downpatrick) said that it had been the aim to “secure a stable financial budget for this district – one that will secure funding for capital projects, and continue to deliver for our communities”. “It is imperative that council continues to move forward with plans to regenerate our towns and city, and improve our tourism offerings,” she continued. “If we look across the district, there are exciting plans for development, and we are leading this progress. “Fiscal stability is critical to these plans. “It would be impossible to go down any further without cutting services, service level agreements and supporting community events, and ensuring jobs are safe for our staff.” Jill Truesdale (Alliance, Mournes) raised concerns about “the viability of capital budgets” for the forthcoming year, such as those allocated to the Newry City Centre Regeneration Project and the Mourne Mountains Gateway Project. “As a party grouping, we are not comfortable with embarking on such huge capital projects with speculative costs that may hit ratepayers in the pocket for years to come,” she said. “Despite our concerns, we fully support workers receiving the pay deal that they deserve after extensive negotiations. “We are also pleased to see the council fund the animal welfare grant, which was cut last year.”
Pete Byrne (SDLP, Slieve Gullion) said that his party had put forward “alternative proposals” around the council’s capital fund and had wanted clarity around this; however, he also voiced his frustration that they had not received any answers from officers in relation to this. “What we have to do is roll up our sleeves, find savings in this council, and get clarity on how we can use our capital fund to reduce our capital programme, so that we know that we are not actually biting off more than we can chew and don’t put those costs on the ratepayer, and move forward at risk on the rates support grant and the animal welfare,” he stated. “That way, we can make over two per cent savings, and that would be a proposal that we would want to see coming forward. “But, again, we don’t have that information. “I am very, very disappointed with the paper in front of us, and I am very disappointed that parties are lapping it up, and saying we can’t do any more. “Clearly I articulated that we can.”
Cllr Hanlon proposed that the rate increase be endorsed, and this was seconded by Cllr Jackson. However, support was not unanimous, necessitating the 26-8 vote. In a local authority statement released after Monday’s meeting, council chairperson Valerie Harte said that “this year’s rate reflects the continuing economic challenges that we, as a local authority – like all businesses and organisations – are operating in at present”. “While Newry, Mourne and Down District Council faces the same financial challenges as all other Northern Ireland local councils, the council’s collaborative approach with partners and communities offers a path to redesigning and delivering services that are responsive to local needs,” she added. “We look forward to delivering on important benefits for our district, and are confident that we will adapt to new opportunities and challenges as they emerge, all with the key objective of improving the lives and livelihoods of the people who live and work here.”
