Opposition – not ruling pact – in tatters over City Council budget |
Bradley Bytes – A sort of political column by Dara Bradley
Difficult budgetary decisions have rocked ruling pacts at City Hall in recent years.
Not this time. This time the pact held strong. This time the opposition, rather than the controlling pact, was in disarray.
The 10 Councillors in the ‘chairs and chains’ coalition at City Hall didn’t get it all their own way in Budget 2026.
But on the central plank of the proposed draft budget – increasing commercial rates – the pact managed to cushion the blow.
Businesses still won’t be happy with an increase of 3% in commercial rates, coming on top of higher bills in recent years, due to Tailte Éireann rates revaluations.
They won’t like losing the 5% rebate for ratepayers whose rates bills are less than €30,000 annually either, as per the agreed budget. This move will suck €835,000 out of small local businesses in........