Ratepayers vote in favour of setting up Business Improvement District company for Clonmel
An overwhelming majority of voters approved the proposal in a postal plebiscite of Clonmel's ratepayers
Clonmel's ratepayers have voted in favour of the proposal to set up a Business Improvement District company to assist with improving the town's prosperity and vibrancy in a postal ballot that concluded yesterday (Wednesday, May 13) afternoon.
The deadline for submitting postal ballot papers in the plebiscite was 1pm yesterday. The counting of votes followed in the afternoon and concluded around 4.30pm.
It's understood the proposal to form a BID company for the town was approved by an overwhelming majority of the ratepayers who voted in the plebiscite. The results will be published by Tipperary County Council in The Nationalist next week.
Supporters of the BID initiative gathered in Moran's Pub in Clonmel yesterday evening to celebrate the outcome of the ballot.
Clonmel Town Team Chairman Noel Buckley said the vote in favour of setting up the BID company was a "historic moment for the town" and he hoped in 50 years time people will remember it as a turning point in the future of Clonmel.
The proposal to set up a BID company must now go before the next plenary meeting of Tipperary County Council's elected members on Monday, June 8 for their formal approval.
The BID company will be funded through a levy paid by all the town’s ratepayers ranging from small shop owners to multi-national industries and large chain stores.
It’s estimated the Clonmel BID levy will generate an annual fund of €350,000. That fund would be used to leverage for other funding to invest in initiatives to improve footfall in the town and the town’s prosperity.
The BID company will be run by a CEO and a board comprising ratepayers, a Clonmel Borough District councillor and Tipperary County Council official. It will operate for five years after which ratepayers will vote again on whether to continue the BID.