County Council accountants expect small surplus for 2014

Longford County Council’s monthly meeting for April heard that the local authority expects to have a slight surplus when the accounts are finalised.

Apresentation delivered by the Council’s Head of Finance, Barry Lynch, projected a total income of almost €41.92 million, while expenditure is expected to be in the region of €41.88 million.

The expected surplus of €35,000 is just over the figure of €24,000 Mr Lynch estimated the local authority would have left over when delivering the budget for the year.

During his presentation, he noted that the County Council’s expenditure had been reduced, “mainly due to the procurement of goods and services through Irish Water’s financial system”, and that the local authority’s accumulated deficit had been cleared, leaving a surplus of €126,000 to be carried forward.

Highlighting significant sources of income, Mr Lynch said that the Local Government Fund allocation for 2014 totalled €8.2 million, down from €12.32 million in 2013.

Road grants amounted to €6.01 million, which was a decrease of just under one million over the previous year, but was still higher than the figure adopted in the budget. Higher education and housing grants were down, but enterprise and miscellaneous grants increased.

Total income from other sources, including rents, water charges, Irish Water, Non-Principal Private Residence charges was just under €12 million.

Rates generated just over €6 million in income, while rents raised €4.9 million, and loans accounted for over €960,000 in income. It was also highlighted that €4.1 million in arrears is owed to the local authority in these categories.

Regarding expenditure, councillors were told that payroll and pensions costs reached €18.9 million in 2014, while operational expenses totalled €14.5 million. Capital works amounted to €4.8 million.

A special meeting of Longford County Council will be held on May 6 to fully discuss the financial report.