Rates Cut

kilburn

Looks like the rates are being reduced by 15.8%, finally the city and county will be in sync. Can only be another well needed boost to the city centre

http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/business/business-news/limerick-city-council-plans-a-massive-cut-in-commercial-rates-1-5740447

geotrig

hopefully it wont lead to rents being raised :rolleyes: but at least its a good step ...i would have liked to see them come down a small bit more and be less than the counties.

Kess73

Much needed, but what the hell took them so long to be almost ready to bring this in?

Other cities made this move years ago.


Think the comment that it will make Limerick the cheapest city to do business in is a bit misleading as well.


Fingers crossed it does actually happen (the last few years also saw announcements of how a rates cut was just about to happen) but I cannot help but think it is too little too late for a lot of businesses in the city.

Exile on Grafton St.

Kess73 wrote: »

Much needed, but what the hell took them so long to be almost ready to bring this in?

Other cities made this move years ago.


Think the comment that it will make Limerick the cheapest city to do business in is a bit misleading as well.


Fingers crossed it does actually happen (the last few years also saw announcements of how a rates cut was just about to happen) but I cannot help but think it is too little too late for a lot of businesses in the city.

I understand from your earlier posts that you got the run around when you dealt with the Council and that would put anyone into a rage. But I do feel you are being a bit harsh asking why they didn't do this sooner.

Apparently they were only planning a 5% rate reduction as that was the only funding they had available. Michael 'Santa' Noonan and the Department of Env. decided to give Limerick City Council a grant to cover the rest, so they could match the County Council. Apparently Limerick City Council didn't even ask for this grant, it just came out of the blue.

Just as a matter of interest, how do these new rates for Limerick compare against other cities?

Should be interesting to see if they can maintain this low rate for all of Limerick when both Council's are merged and the grant runs out...

Kess73

Exile on Grafton St. wrote: »

I understand from your earlier posts that you got the run around when you dealt with the Council and that would put anyone into a rage. But I do feel you are being a bit harsh asking why they didn't do this sooner.

Apparently they were only planning a 5% rate reduction as that was the only funding they had available. Michael 'Santa' Noonan and the Department of Env. decided to give Limerick City Council a grant to cover the rest, so they could match the County Council. Apparently Limerick City Council didn't even ask for this grant, it just came out of the blue.

Just as a matter of interest, how do these new rates for Limerick compare against other cities?

Should be interesting to see if they can maintain this low rate for all of Limerick when both Council's are merged and the grant runs out...

Retailers and others have long being asking for cuts in Limerick that matched the ones seen in cities like Cork and Galway. The fact that those cities were procative enough to do so years before Limerick has to have seen potential Limerick business lost to those cities, it will also have seen jobs lost in Limerick that potentailly may have been saved.


I don't think I am being harsh at all in saying that Limerick city has been awfully slow in looking into reducing the rates. It is not as though it is new that the rates needed to come down, and it is not as though those with the power to drop the rates could have been unaware of the desperate need to do so. Other areas in Ireland were seeing rate reductions in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Limerick is looking at doing it in 2014. So yes they are well off the pace, and were either oblivious to how badly needed the move was, were underqualified to understand what was needed, or just did not give a crap about businesses within their own jurisdiction.

As for your question as to how Limerick city will look compared to other cities in terms of rates etc. I think a fairer answer to that could be given when the exact rate reduction is known. What I can say for sure is that as things stand right now it is more cost effective for me to have a business on Patrick street in Cork and on Shop Street in Galway than it would be for me to have a unit with the exact same square footage on one of O'Connell street or Bedford Row in Limerick.

I genuinely hope to see that change though, because it would make Limerick city a more attractive option for business small and large, and just as importantly (maybe even more so) it would give many businesses currently operating in the city centre a little more breathing room, and could be the difference between many of them being able to dig in and fight on, or having to look at leaving the city.


Just hope that if the rate reduction does come in, that we don't see rent and other charges sneak up in price.

Exile on Grafton St.

Rates in the city will fall to just under 60%.

http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/business/business-news/limerick-city-council-plans-a-massive-cut-in-commercial-rates-1-5740447

Kess73

Exile on Grafton St. wrote: »

Rates in the city will fall to just under 60%.

http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/business/business-news/limerick-city-council-plans-a-massive-cut-in-commercial-rates-1-5740447

Under 60% with no other rises elsewhere would be very good news for the city. Would still maintain that it may be coming late for a number of current businesses, but certainly good news for some current and also possibly for those considering Limerick as a location.

But given how many promises have been made with regards to Limerick ( in terms of infrastructure, rates, services etc) in the past, I think my default setting for "potential" huge boosts for Limerick city is generally set to sceptical at best and outright scathing at worst.:D

But as stated in my earlier post, I do genuinely hope that this comes about because I do know plenty of folk in Limerick who would benefit from it, and the knock on form that would be that their employees would benefit as well through those businesses having a greater chance to remain open.

Fingers crossed that my scepticism is proven to be completely unfounded, and that this all comes about.

bigpink

Thats crazy kess73 you have 2 shops and yet wasnt worth your while to open in your hometown,shows how slow limerick cc are in acting

Kess73

bigpink wrote: »

Thats crazy kess73 you have 2 shops and yet wasnt worth your while to open in your hometown,shows how slow limerick cc are in acting

Technically I do have a branch in the city I grew up in (Liverpool)


I do however have the logistical side of my little empire based in Limerick (outside of city limits though:)) as Limerick is ideally situated between Cork and Galway and is also a great location should I be lucky enough to try to open something in Kerry and/or Tipperary in the future. Probably means that I will be staying in Limerick for longer than I thought though as I had toyed with the idea of a move to China before my attempt at running my own business started to flourish.


As for the speed Limerick CC and similar act, well at the end of the day it was my own choice not to set up within the city limits but I do think I would probably have opened a branch in Limerick city had everything involved matched that of Cork and Galway. Then again who knows what the future holds on that front, in two or three years time I might well have something in the city centre.

zulutango

Kess73 wrote: »

Much needed, but what the hell took them so long to be almost ready to bring this in?

Short answer: the amalgamation of the city and county councils enabled it.

Limerick City has been the poorest local authority in the country up until recently and probably couldn't afford to lower the rates. By contrast, the county was the wealthiest authority outside Dublin. We're seeing a much more sensible approach to the management of the Limerick urban area now.