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0 % COUNCIL RATE INCREASE - A HISTORIC RATE SETTLEMENT

Following Monday evenings Council meeting the Mayor of Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council Robert Mulligan said "the diligent work of councillors and officers within Dungannon Council has resulted in a milestone for the local authority. It is the first time since Local Government reorganisation almost 38 years ago in 1972 that the Council has not had to increase its rates. According to the Mayor this will make Dungannon one of the few Councils in NI who have not escalated the rates. This builds on previous years work where Council has been continuing to reduce the local rate. The Mayor also noted that whilst this is a milestone it also again emphasises Dungannon's position amongst the lowest rated Councils in NI".

The Mayor concluded "I am very conscious of the difficult economic times we are all experiencing. Too many in the Borough have lost their jobs, others are on reduced hours and businesses are going through uncertain times".

Chief Executive Alan Burke indicted that the key challenges faced by the Council this year were:

 Further reduction in fees from Building Regulations and property certificates due to the downturn in the local construction industry
 An increase in EU landfill tax amounting to £170k (almost 2%) of a rate increase.

According to Mr Burke, the Council, faced with ever increasing running costs initiated 12-18 months ago a major programme of efficiency savings identifying opportunities for reducing spend whilst maintaining satisfactory service provision. The Senior Management Team of the Council has been involved in new ways of working and opportunities for sharing costs have also been explored often in partnership with neighbouring Councils he added.

He also explained that whilst not increasing the rates Council has still been able to continue to support capital schemes in the Borough and have set aside a significant sum (almost £1.2m) in order to progress further schemes throughout the coming year.

Although the household rate bill will not increase from last year local businesses will be slightly affected by the NI Assembly's decision to increase their regional rate by 2.7%. This impact however will be mitigated by the Councils decision not to increase the district rate.

Our aim for the financial year 2010 said Alan Burke was to strike a rate reflective of the current economic environment whilst facilitating significant capital spend which will allow some additional tangible benefits to be delivered within local communities.

9 February 2010