Ballot of Clonmel ratepayers on Business Improvement District proposal gets underway

The plebiscite of Clonmel ratepayers on whether a Business Improvement District company should be established to help improve the town’s prosperity and vibrancy is now underway.

Ballot papers were issued to the town's ratepayers at 9am on Tuesday in a pre-paid envelope. The ratepayers are invited to post their ballot to the Council’s Civic Offices in Clonmel by the deadline of 3pm on May 13.

Ratepayers have one vote per rateable property they own. This means if you have three rateable properties, you will have three votes.

This plebiscite follows the completion of the Clonmel BID public consultation process. Councillors heard at Tipperary County Council’s monthly meeting on Monday that 226 of the 235 submissions received for the public consultation process were in favour of progressing the BID process to the next stage.

Council Meetings Administrator Ger Walsh said the council received a written notice on March 18 from the proponents of Clonmel BID to initiate the plebiscite process.

He outlined that the Council’s CEO Sinead Carr appointed officials as a returning officer and deputy returning officer for the ballot.

Mayor of Clonmel Cllr Pat English and Tipperary County Council Leas Cathaoirleach Cllr Mark Fitzgerald were nominated at the meeting to observe the posting of the ballot papers and ballot box opening. Cllrs Siobhan Ambrose and Tom Acheson proposed and seconded them.

Mr Walsh said the result of the plebiscite will be published in the local papers and will be announced at the Council’s June meeting.

If a majority of ratepayers vote in favour of setting up the BID , the proposal will be put before the council's elected members at that meeting for formal approval.

If established, Clonmel’s BID will be funded through a levy paid by all the town’s ratepayers from the small shop owner to multi-national industries and large chain stores.

It’s estimated the Clonmel BID levy will generate an annual fund of €350,000 with the potential to use that fund 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.

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