Joe McGrath was speaking at the 2017 Budget meeting where elected members debated the monetary measures
Tipperary County Council has a total spending budget of €138.8 million for next year
Roads and Housing are the departments with the largest spend; €39 million and €28 million respectively
The council will receive almost €28 million from the local property tax equalisation fund from Government-this money is for local authorities that don't take in enough within their own County to fund services
Addressing the 40 councillors, CEO Joe McGrath said inward investment and job creation are priorities for the local authorities. Efforts to increase these in 2017 are high on the agenda, but he said one of the main objectives of this budget is to maintain essential service across the county.
The CEO also warned the council has to find new ways of raising money to fund these services – he said the rate of recovery in Tipperary is lagging behind national trends and some costs for the council are on the rise.
These include the local authority's insurance premium for next year which is set to rise by 17.9%, or €700 thousand. In addition, payroll reversal costs will amount to around €800 thousand.
A large part of the council's income comes from commercial rates. As part of the harmonisation process, most towns will see a rise: Tipp Town will go up by 1.15, Carrick-on-Suir by 1.44 and Templemore by .74.
Rates account for over 20% of the council's income.
Each department is now going through their budgets individually for members at today's meeting.
