As Clare’s Councils put the finishing touches to their 2014 budgets, new figures show how they’ve been forced to write off a large portion their income during the economic downturn.
In all, the County Council and the Town Councils of Ennis and Kilrush have been forced to forego over 5.5 million euro in commercial rates charges.
Ennis Town Council was forced to write off 2.7 million euro worth of commercial rates in the six years up to 2011, while Clare’s other rate setting Town Council of Kilrush has been forced to chalk off 75 thousand as bad debts.
In the same timeframe, from 2006 to 2011, Clare County Council has admitted it was unable to collect 1.9 million euro of the commercial charge.
Updated figures show a further three quarters of a million euro was struck off its balance sheet since the beginning of last year.
As Councils nationwide determine how much they can spend on services next year, the figures show the extent of the problem across Ireland, with Ireland’s local authorities facing a combined 500 million euro funding shortfall since 2006.
