Limerick councillors reject proposal to increase development levies by 25%
DEVELOPMENT levies in Limerick are to remain at their 2017 level for at least another year, following a decision by a majority of councillors to reject a proposed increase of 25%.
In a vote at the full meeting of the council, 24 councillors voted against the increase while 13 voted in favour.
But, the matter is to be revisited again within the year.
The proposal to reject the 25% increase came as a surprise to Cllr Eddie Ryan who reminded councillors that there had been two meetings and two workshops on the issue of development contribution levies.
“What I am hearing today I never heard at any meeting,” he said. The original proposal from management, he went on to explain, was for a 250% increase, but he had proposed instead a 25% increase.
The increase in the levy from €7 to €8.75 per square metre would not be the main concern of young couples trying to build a home, Cllr Ryan argued.
“They want to know will they be able to build near the village or town where they were bred, born and reared,” he said.
The scheme before the councillors was “thought-out”, he continued and he proposed it be agreed.
“We feel in the current climate the timing may not be right,” Fine Gael leader in the council, Cllr John Sheahan said, opposing the 25% increase and acknowledging the work that had gone into the proposed scheme before them.
“That work will not be in vain,” he said. “We are proposing we revisit it in 2023. We hope following the lifting of restrictions, the waning of Covid-19, that construction will follow and there will be an improvement in developments.”
In that scenario, with increased construction, the development contribution fund would be enhanced in any case, he argued. His hope was that the price of raw materials would fall over the next 12 months and there would be “a more level playing field”.
Cllr Liam Galvin seconded the proposal, pointing out that some forecasts were for a 30% increase in construction costs.
“This proposal from Cllr Sheahan is coming very late in the day,” Fianna Fail leader in the council, Cllr Michael Collins said.
“Cost increases have been going on for the last 12 months.” However, he said, he and the Fianna Fail group were happy to support the proposal and to revisit the matter in 12 months time.