Move to make Tipperary business owners of vacant properties pay more in rates

A move to tackle dereliction in Tipperary by reducing a waiver relief on commercial rates allowed to owners of vacant properties was rejected at the annual budget meeting of Tipperary County Council.

The owners of large vacant commercial premises were targeted in a proposal put before Tipperary County Council last Friday.

However the bid was rejected by 24 votes to 4 with a number of Clonmel councillors, a town where dereliction is at an alarming level, voting against the proposal.

Cllr Annemarie Ryan put forward a proposal that, if approved, would have seen a significant cut in the rates relief given to owners of vacant properties who would then have to pay more in rates.

She proposed that the 100% relief on commercial rates of under €5,000 on vacant premises, already in place, remain the same in 2024.

Cllr Ryan proposed that the 80% rates relief given to owners of vacant commercial properties, that pay rates of between €5,000 and €10,000, be reduced to 60% relief.

The proposal also called for the 60% relief given to owners of vacant commercial properties, that pay rates of greater than €10,000, be reduced to 25% relief.

Cllr Ryan said her proposal was designed to tackle dereliction in towns throughout Tipperary.

Cllr Ryan said her proposal still allowed full relief for small commercial rate payers but removed some of the relief given to the owners of the bigger properties that were vacant, for example the Market Place and Superquin area in the town centre of Clonmel.

“It is very unfair on owners of commercial properties who are paying rates and the owner of a vacant premises next door is getting a waiver and the property is falling down around them. We need to get serious about dereliction,” she said.

Cllr Ryan, Cllr Pat English, Cllr Davy Dunne and Cllr Fiona Bonfield voted for the proposal and 24 members voted against.

Clonmel councillors outlined their reasons for voting against the proposal.

Cllr Siobhan Ambrose said she would not support the proposal even though it was put forward with good intent.

The Fianna Fail councillor said she was engaging with owners of units in Clonmel on the matter. Owners, she said, were making huge efforts and some of them had been held back because of Covid.

She felt that the proposal would be unfair on those owners of properties that were making an effort.

Cllr Michael Murphy said he could not support the proposal as he knew that the vast majority of the owners concerned were trying to rent or were engaging with the local authority.

“There was only a small cohort that were not interested in renting,” he said.

Cllr Murphy said he did not agree with the proposal as it was of a ‘capture all’ nature.

While he agreed some owners were sitting on property, they were in the minority.

Cllr Richie Molloy said he could see where the sentiment of the proposal was coming from but he could not support it as he was aware of a number of owners that were in the process of doing up their property.

He said there was a phenomenal turnout from the business community at a recent information meeting in Clonmel for owners concerning grants for carrying out work on vacant property.

“Dereliction is a scourge but it is the minority that is involved,” said Cllr Molloy.

Cllr Molloy said he hoped to see change for the better concerning vacant properties in Clonmel in the next eighteen months.

“When you look at the Market Place area in Clonmel I cannot understand how somebody can say that this proposal is too harsh,” Cllr Annemarie Ryan told the councillors that objected to her proposal put forward at the budget meeting.