Paul Murphy
Meath’s 77,000 householders can breathe a sigh of relief after local councillors voted against increasing the percentage rate of Local Property Tax for the coming years. The self-assessed tax on the market value of residential properties was introduced in 2013 and intended to provide a stable funding source for local councils and in Meath it is collected by the Revenue Commissioners.
Because this is an Evaluation Year – when the Revenue Commissioners carry out an assessment of property values – householders will see some increases. At Monday’s monthly meeting of the county council a proposal by the Sinn Fein grouping that the tax be reduced by 10% was defeated by 28 votes to four.
Members of the public were asked for the opinion on what should be done about the tax for the coming year. Among the 61 submissions made online to the council, 21 were in favour of a reduction, 37 favoured an increase and three people asked that it be unchanged. In a briefing to councillors, council finance officer Fiona Lawless said the amount collected by the council in LPT for 2025 was €21,402,920 and it was expected to collect €23,137,604 in 2026.
Giving an outline of the council’s income and expenditure the official said that its adopted budget for this year included €55,942,022 in commercial rates, €17,187,691 in LPT, €92,626,146 in grants and subsidies and €66,301,620 in other income. In 2026 it is estimated that the amount collected in commercial rates will be the same as in 2025, LPT collection will increase by about €3m, grants and subsidies will represent a €2m increase while “other income” will see an increase of €1m.
The amount paid out by the council in wages and salaries is expected to increase by €3,541,274 to €78,531,179. This is a year when properties are revalued by Revenue for the purpose of the LPT and it will be five years before this process is repeated. People with properties worth up to €200,000 and are currently paying €90. LPT annually will go into a new band structure for 2026-2030 and see their LPT increase by €5. Those with properties worth €200,000 to €262,500 will have an increase of €10; those with properties €262,501-350,000 will have an €18 increase; those with properties €350,000- 437,500 will have a €23 rise; €437,501-525,000 goes up by €28; €525,001-612,500 rises by €33.
Twenty four percent of properties in Meath are in the 0-240,000 value; 23% are valued at €240,001- 315,000; 29% are in the €315,001-420,000 and 24% are valued at over €420,000.
In a report to councillors Chief Executive Kieran Kehoe recommended that the LPT basic rate be varied by plus 15%. A reduction of 10% in LPT was proposed by Cllr Michael Gallagher, Sinn Fein and seconded by his party colleague Cllr Peter Caffrey. This proposal was defeated by 28 votes to four.
