The majority of Dubliners will see their property tax rise next year following a vote by Dublin city councillors to increase the tax.
Now that the vote has passed, householders in three of Dublin’s four local authority areas will see their property tax increase from next year, alongside a separate revaluation of the Local Property Tax bands for all households across the country which will be applied from November.
Dublin City Council said the increase will provide almost €16.5 million in additional funding for the city, with almost a third going toward maintaining the city’s housing stock.
But opponents said they believe the property tax hike is unfair on householders and that the extra funding could be raised by collecting unpaid vacant and derelict site levies and development contributions.
Since the introduction of the Local Property Tax more than a decade ago, councillors have had the ability to increase or decrease the base rate of the tax by 15%.
Dublin City Council has always voted to apply the full 15% discount below the base rate.
However as part of their agreement to form a coalition last year, councillors from Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, the Green Party and Labour Party agreed to vote to increase the tax by 15%, returning it to the base rate from 2026 to 2029.
Figures from Dublin City Council show that some householders in the area could face a hike of up to 34% after revaluation and increased rates are applied.
Speaking ahead of the vote in City Hall, Fine Gael Cllr Danny Byrne said it was prudent and fiscally responsible to return the tax to the base rate.
Social Democrats Cllr Cat O’Driscoll said her party supported the rise but she does have some concerns about some on social welfare having to pay the full local property tax.
Sinn Féin’s Daithí Doolan has said that his party opposed the rise because people living in Dublin were unfairly punished by higher house prices in the capital.
He said that he believes it is wrong to increase the property tax for people struggling to pay their mortgages and deal with the cost of living.
Green Party Cllr Michael Pidgeon said his party supports the rise because Dublin city has been a “strange outlier” in applying the full discount to the property tax.
He also said he believes there is a “cowardice and deep dishonesty” in how some politicians talk about tax and that the tax base needs to be widened. Cllr Pidgeon believes Dublin City Council are doing their part in that tonight.
Fianna Fáil Cllr Daryl Barron said his party would support the rise because the extra €16.4m would be a “game changer” for Dublin which he described as a “dirty old town”.
He said that the money would help clean up the city with improving footpaths one of the priorities for his party.
Independent Cllr Pat Dunne said he and some members of the Independent Technical Group would oppose the rise, asking why the council should add to the burden of the cost of living.
He also said the LPT is flawed because it does not take into account individuals financial circumstances.
Labour Cllr Darragh Moriarty said his party fully supported the rise and welcomed other parties coming around to their way of thinking on the issue.
He said over the past decade the council had squandered €140m by applying the discount to property tax and accused those who opposed the rise of “populist pandering”.
People Before Profit’s Conor Reddy said his party opposed the rise because the tax was introduced by two parties who he said had “gutted” local government funding and structures.
He said for the vast majority of people, their property was their home and not a source of wealth.
Independent Cllr Gavin Pepper said he would oppose the rise because he believes the LPT is a joke and a stealth tax and that “people haven’t got a penny in this country”.
Recent votes by Dublin local authorities on LPT
In recent weeks two other Dublin local authorities also voted to increase their property taxes while the other maintained its rate.
Fingal County Council voted to reduce the discount they apply to the base rate from 7.5% to 5%, generating an additional €1m for services.
South Dublin County Council also voted to reduce its discount from 7.5% to 5%, generating €3m in additional funding.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council voted to continue to apply the full 15% discount on the local property tax.
In a circular to councillors ahead of tonight’s meeting, DCC Chief Executive Richard Shakespeare urged them to no longer apply the 15% discount on property tax for householders in the city, saying that removing the discount would give the council €16.4m in additional funding.
The Government has already announced that properties are to be revalued for Local Property Tax on 1 November this year.
However, he said that as 75% of properties in the city council are currently in band 4 or under, based on current valuations, most homeowners in the capital would see a weekly increase of between 36 cent and €1.61 if the discount on property tax is discontinued.
He said that everyone wants Dublin city to become more vibrant and enjoyable and that the injection of extra funding for the capital would provide services that will “benefit and lift all”.
He outlined that €5.4m would be allocated to housing maintenance, €3m would go on roads and footpaths and another €3m would be used for urban regeneration and upgrading vacant properties.
Mr Shakespeare said: “Dublin City Council seeks to maintain and develop services in an environment with rising service provision costs and the need to invest in key infrastructure projects.
“It is unreasonable that an expectation be held that there be no increase to Dublin City Council’s income base.
“Securing resources of €16.4m to find services to support communities and businesses in 2026 and apply this funding of additional services for a period of four years up to and including 2029 is a valuable opportunity that I urge elected members to take.”
He said the current estimated take for property tax in Dublin City in 2026 is €109.4m up, €8.5m on 2025.
The increase to the base rate was one of the main conditions for Labour and the Greens to enter a coalition on Dublin City Council last year, but they agreed to postpone the rise until 2026 because councillors in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were reported to be reluctant to agree to supporting it until after the general election had taken place.
The group have 31 of the 63 seats on Dublin City Council and hope to receive support from a number of councillors outside the coalition, including representatives of the Social Democrats who last year supported a vote to return the tax to the base rate.
