NO INCREASE IN THE LOCAL PROPERTY TAX FOR CARLOW

We are calling on Carlow county councillors to reject the proposed increase of 15% in the LPT in Carlow as put forward by the Chief Executive of Carlow County Council.

An increase in the local property tax is an endorsement of the type of politics that penalises the people. It is time to put an end to this. To put an end to chasing the ordinary worker for every pence while leaving the corporations, big businesses and big government off the hook!

The LPT was introduced by central government with the tag line of “Funding your local services”. However before the introduction of the Local Property Tax, one of the main sources of funding to local authorities was the General  Purpose Grant. However, after 2015, this was replaced with an allocation from the Local Property Tax.

In 2008, the General Purpose Grant to local authorities amounted to €979 million. In 2009, it was €832 million and in 2010 it was €763 million.

After the property tax was introduced, this funding shrank dramatically. In 2015, funding to local authorities from the Local Property Tax stood at €458 million. In 2016, it was €453 million and in 2017, it was €501 million.

These figures show up the lie that was told about the property tax being used to better local public services. They explain why basic services like libraries, cleaning, repairs, funding for youth services have all been run down.

They prove that the government was lying when they promised better services and that their main aim was simply to shift the tax burden onto the mass of people while helping to shelter the big corporations.

Local Authorities now have less money for local services and amenities than they had prior to the introduction of the LPT because central exchequer funding was slashed at the same time. 

The claim that the LPT would discourage property speculation has equally proven to be bogus, as the exact opposite has happened and the property market has spiralled out of control.

The LPT is a regressive tax that takes absolutely no consideration of income or personal wealth and has resulted in less funds being available to fund local services, we cannot continue as public representatives to tax low income families whilst simultaneously accepting less funding for the operations of our councils.

Local Government and public services need major injection of funding from central government to bring it in line with other European countries; this funding must be based on progressive taxation.

It's time to stop regressive taxation and the economic rationale that is used to justify it. We should immediately abolish this unfair and failed tax and increase investment in local and public services through progressive central taxation and in particular by taxing the profiteers and speculators who are making obscene profits from the current housing crisis and paying almost no tax.

We are opposed to a tax on the family home for the simple reason that you can be a millionaire living in a rural area  and will pay less tax then a PAYE worker in Dublin whose house happens to be valued at a higher prices.

Instead of a property tax, we need a wealth tax, a tax on financial speculation and the closure of all loopholes that have allowed vulture funds get away with tiny rates of tax.