Funding for three county Longford municipal districts will rise to €150,000 annually
Fema Flanagan, the Director of Finance, spoke about the additional funding and some of the financial constraints at a recent Granard Municipal District budget meeting.
The General Municipal Allocation (GMA) funding allocations for the three county Longford municipal districts are due to increase by €30,000 over the next three years up until 2029, it has been confirmed
Fema Flanagan, the Director of Finance, spoke about the additional money and some of the financial constraints at a recent Granard Municipal District budget meeting.
"We have the GMA Allocations, which is what we are talking about today and that is over the lifespan of the strategic business plan that is going to increase to €150,000 for each MD (Municipal District).
"It is increasing by €10,000 per year so in 2026 we got €120,000 and in 2027 it's going up to €140,000.
"So, when you look at these five pillars there is multi-annual funding certainty for Granard MD into the future, which is great.
"We know we are going and we know what we have to deal with."
Ms Flanagan said a total of €390,000 going to be split per year between the three MDs and there is no proposal to change that this year.
"If we look at where we can spend that €390,000 in total, it's €130,000 per MD so it can be spent on the likes of community grants, festivals, cultural events and tidy towns grants, Christmas lights and other special projects."
Ms Flanagan, who spoke about other financial variables said their rates are staying steady and their rent collection is up since the launch of MyCoCo, a new secure online payments platform that allows Local Authority housing tenants to pay rent online.
"We are making inroads on that but it is going to be slow progress over the next few years while people start clearing arrears balances."
Ms Flanagan said cash flow is likely to be a challenge.
"We are spending about €45 million a fortnight now, which is not a small amount of money. "
She said the Longford Strategy, which is a business plan from 2025-to-2029, should make a positive difference.
"There are five pillars in that, the Local Property Tax, that is agreed at 15 plus per cent for the five years and that is expected to generate €1.7 million.
"There is commercial rates, we have a plan for a rates increase over the period of time, but no rates increase in 2029, which is the year of the election and that is expected to generate 1.5 million."
Ms Flanagan said in terms of rent reviews, there was no rent reviews in 2024 but there is local rent reviews in the current Longford Strategy 2025-to-2029 business plan.
"The expectation is that is going to generate €1.2 million."
Ms Flanagan stated they increased their parking charges last year to €650,000 annually to fund the €2 million footpaths programme in county Longford.
"Finally we have the GMA Allocations, which is what we are talking about today and that is over the lifespan of the strategic business plan that is going to increase to €150,000 for each MD.
"So it is increasing by €10,000 per year so in 2026 we got €120,000 and in 2027 it's going up to €140,000."