Roscommon Chamber of Commerce President Sean Mahon says the Proposed Valuation Certificates issued in County Roscommon by the Valuation Office in Dublin have caused considerable concern to the businesses who have received them.
Mr. Mahon said that it is “extremely unfortunate” that the letter from the Valuation Office didn’t explicitly state that the proposed valuation was not the business owners’ rates liability.
“They did it in a footnote at the end of the letter but it was not explicit enough. People essentially saw the proposed valuation and didn’t read into the smaller detail.
“In calculating the rates liability the proposed valuation has to be multiplied by 0.25 (÷ 4). By way of an example, if the proposed valuation was €6,000 then the rates liability would be €1,500. The proposed valuation is fixed by the Valuation Office in Dublin. The multiplier which is called the ‘annual rate of valuation’ is set by Roscommon County Council and the indication given by Roscommon County Council is that the multiplier will be 0.25, hence the reason for dividing the valuation by 4.”
Mr. Mahon said that he had received numerous calls and texts from businesses who were concerned that their rates liability was increasing by 300% to 400%.
“I can only assume that they didn’t apply the multiplier. In reality there should be little or no fluctuation on the amount of rates you pay. The indication given was that the rates would increase or decrease in the range of 5%.”
The Chamber President said that it is now essential to see how the valuations in Roscommon are compared to the rest of the country and to also determine what the multiplier has been set at by other County Councils.
“Roscommon County Council have indicated that the multiplier will be 0.25. This is still too high. Businesses in Roscommon have been paying higher level of rates per square metre than businesses in all other counties. And it is not confined to commercial rates. We also pay more per cubic metre to Veolia for water rates than our surrounding counties.”
He continued: “The real question that has to be asked following the re-valuation is why is it that the rates in County Roscommon are on a price per metre basis higher than they are in other counties? This is a question for the County Council to answer.”
Help is at hand…
Roscommon Chamber President Sean Mahon says that if ratepayers determine that their rates have increased and they are looking to challenge it then they must do so within 40 days from the date of the letter advising them of the proposed valuation.
“If they are concerned about it they can make contact with either myself or any other member of the Chamber Executive and we will endeavour to assist them.
“Alternatively there is a helpline that they can call. The number is 01 8171033.”
