What if your Local Property Tax was to go up?

“Well boi”, it’s that time of year once again!

Behind the closed, locked doors of City Hall and Dungarvan Civic Offices, our 32 Councillors will be, should be, fiddling with their calculators. (This is not a euphemism!) They’re deciding the Waterford City and County budget for 2018. But just what might this mean for you, the reader?

The actual process of passing and approving a “Balanced budget” is rather strange. As there is so much of the Executives’ budget that is quite literally “Untouchable”. In fact our Councillors can only change, alter or influence a rather small percentage of a much larger circa €130,000,000 budget. With the Lansdowne-Haddington-kick-the-can-down-the-Road agreements coming on stream, we could see pressure being heaped on our Council to contribute more to budgetary areas. Expected pay and pension increases that may not actually be covered by additional, supplementary central exchequer grants/funds. This of course means you and I have to pay for this.

You might recall, that our local news and media, covered many column inches, giving lots of radio snippets, about just how there could be absolutely NO Local Property Tax (LPT) or Commercial Rates increases for 2017. The Councillors agreed that the timing was NOT right!

What has changed in our economic outlook that makes increase charges to LPT and Commercial Rates, a very realistic possibility for 2018?

Look at highly regarded reports, such as the WIT “South East Economic Monitor” and more recently the Council’s very own, Indecon “Economic Cost Benefit Appraisal of the Waterford City Urban Renewal Scheme”. The Indecon document is the actual report, commissioned by the Council, submitted to Government for circa €61,000,000 of exchequer funding. Income that would make possible the alteration to infrastructural groundwork. Which in turn, would allow Saudi Arabia’s Fawaz Alhokair Group, to build on our Strategic Development Zone, on the North Quays.

Both of these reports detail and outline, in no uncertain terms, Waterford City/County and the wider South East region have some way to go, to catch up on the rest of the country’s “Green shoots of recovery”. In fact the gulf, excuse the pun, between some of the economic indicators is, in truth, quite jaw dropping. Disposable income, percentage of the population at risk of poverty, labour force participation rates, unemployment rates, third level attainment....and more besides, make for some incredibly grim reading.

But then we all know that the South East has been neglected by successive Governments for year, after year, after year.

The statistics produced, make an exceptionally compelling and concrete case for Government support for the Alhokair Group’s plans for the North Quays. I do hope that this money is forthcoming from this current Government. Kick starting a REAL recovery in Waterford and the wider South East region. One would also hope that any infrastructural funding would find its way to Waterford. Much, much faster than our rented, National Health Service mobile catheterisation laboratory did! (It has arrived! But then again you would know this, due to the “Trumpeting”, by a few on social media).

Oh and we must remember that with a local council election scheduled for 2019, next year is realistically, the only opportunity that our 32 brave men and women have, to impose punitive increases. Increases on both our LPT and that other easily reached cash cow, Commercial Rates. After all who would want to be imposing unpopular increases, when disproportionate door knocking is already pencilled into the diary?

Any increase, no matter how small, will affect our particularly local economy. Businesses and households are already extraordinarily tight for money, facing continued huge increases in car insurance, rising back to school costs, a spiralling cost of living, fuel expenses for both car and home inflating. Business overheads are also rising disproportionately, thus not reflecting where Waterford’s economy presently sits. The previously mentioned reports, back up just how tight we ALL are for money and disposable income is as rare as hen’s teeth.

What are we to do if increases are imposed by our elected 32 for 2018? Simply ask them directly;

“Why should I be paying more?” Above all, it’s imperative you take an interest in what your Councillors are doing for you and Waterford.

Made of Waterford – Thank you Luke!

In two days time we will ALL be out watching the St Patrick’s Day parade, in our local parish. Some may even be lucky enough to be participating. Many will be looking for friends and family, to shout “Well Boy”, or “Well Girl” to. What’s guaranteed is that locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, the world will quite literally be turned green on Friday 17^th March. A unique access to the world even if it is “Just for one day!”

That is of course, unless you live in the good old US of A. Where for some reason, they have adopted this festival as their own and renamed it “St Patty’s Day”! Just who the hell is “St Patty” and he certainly wasn’t around when Luke first thought of and dreamed up the idea.

I have no doubt that when the indefatigable, Enda meets with The Donald, this wrong will be righted and next year it will be called “St Donald’s Day”!

 

One can only imagine the conversation, when they are gathered around that Waterford Crystal bowl, filled with shamrock, (not the traditional US four leaf clovers) and Enda starts asking about the undocumented Irish. The Donald will boot this to touch and soon the conversation will move on to his great margin of victory and the number of Electoral College votes that he actually won.

Or maybe, at the very last minute, he might just refuse to give Enda an audience at all. Because his favourite Irish golf course in Limerick, was once refused it’s very own “Wall”, by the local Council. Something to do with snails, if memory serves me correctly.

Whatever happens this Friday, rest assured that there will be very few who know that the parade they are watching or marching in, was actually created by one of our own. Brother Luke Wadding, an Irish Franciscan friar, who was born in Waterford on 16^th October 1588. There is actually a wee, inconspicuous, statue of this man outside Greyfriar’s Abbey or the French Church, as it is also known, halfway up Greyfriar’s Street, just past the Municipal Art Gallery.

Luke persuaded the Pope that St Patrick’s Day, should be recognised by the Holy Catholic Church, as a feast day. Such was his authority and power within the Church that he was granted his wish and the date of 17^th March was designated as the day we would feast for St Patrick. Luke, had too many enemies in Rome and as a result, was never made a Cardinal. He did however support the fight against English rule and in particular the fight against a certain Mr Oliver Cromwell. He sent very large sums of money and not insignificant amounts of gunpowder, to Ireland, to help the cause.

Luke, with I have no doubt some help from “His higher force”, would of course have been delighted that Cromwell never actually took his beloved City of Waterford. “Urbs Intacta Manet” is the City’s motto and long before The Donald had any of HIS walls, Waterford’s walls actually stood strong and proud against the mighty all conquering Oliver.

The Feast Day of St Patrick has in many respects lost its religious connotation. There are very few who will actually attend mass or church on the morning of this day. Perhaps the pressure to get our glad rags or costume ready and be in position for the parade start is just too much. What is certain, is this day gives so many the opportunity to break their Ash Wednesday and Lent promises. For twenty four short hours all thoughts of abstinence can be forgotten and more importantly forgiven.

For so many, St Patrick’s Day is about the parade and a celebration of all that is good about our local communities. It is also about being Irish and the reconnection of those Irish roots, which so many millions around the world hold on to with an amazing sense of pride.

It is unfortunate that we in Waterford do not push the Luke Wadding connection more. A son of Waterford has after all, created St Patrick’s Day. Yet, so few know of this association.