Re: Re: cork city boundary extension

And here is another little minor issue that those currently awaiting Wiedervereinigung with the Grosscorkischen Reich might want to ponder.

(Presumably, a good slice of the current short-fall was generated by the famous Knitted Map of Cork)

The qiondam Cork Examiner

24 November 2006

City manager seeks 10% hike in bin charges

By Eoin English
BIN charges in Cork city could rise by 10% and commercial rates by 3.7% under new budget proposals.

City manager Joe Gavin presented the proposed increases during the course of a detailed presentation to the city council’s budget estimates committee on Wednesday as the process of thrashing out details for the city’s 2007 budget began.

Mr Gavin told councillors there is a €1.4 million shortfall in the projected income from refuse charges this year.

He said he wants to increase the annual standing charge for refuse collection by €15 — from €290 to €305 — and up the bin tag charge from €5 to €6.

He also indicated that he wants to limit the number of recycling bags, which are free, to 50 per household per annum and to charge €1 per bag thereafter.

Socialist Party Cllr Mick Barry branded the proposals as “scandalous”.

Households using a bin tag every fortnight and two dry recyclable bags per fortnight would face charges of €461 next year as opposed to €420 last year — an increase of 10%, he said.

Households using a tag every fortnight and three dry recyclable bags per fortnight would face a charge of €489 this year — an increase of 17%, he said.

“This is a plan to bleed the ordinary PAYE householder dry,” he said.

“€489 is a full weeks’ pay before tax for many workers and, as such, is equal to well over 2% of annual take-home salary.”

Fine Gael’s Jerry Buttimer also criticised the proposed refuse charge hikes.

“We shouldn’t penalise those people who engage with our collection service and who play their part in recycling,” he said.

“But this is the opening gambit in our budget debate. There is a long way to go yet.”

Last year, householders were hit with a €35 rise in bin charges when the standing charge rose from €255 to €290.

A wave of illegal dumping swept through the city for several weeks afterwards.

There are also proposals to, for the first time, set aside a package of up to €500,000 in grants for sporting organisations.

Increases in funding for the arts is also expected after a record increase last year.

And up to €34,000 will be set aside to service boilers in the homes of up to 600 council tenants on waivers.

That move was welcomed by Labour Cllr Catherine Clancy.

Councillors met behind closed doors last night, and will meet again tonight, before voting in public on the budget on December 18.

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