John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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1688. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if an analysis has been conducted as to the impact of the commercial rates revaluation that occurred in County Waterford in 2013 on businesses in the county; and if rates collection levels by the combined Waterford local authority have improved as a result. [54614/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Commissioner of Valuation is independent in carrying out his functions under the Valuation Acts 2001 to 2015 and my Department has no role in this regard.

The revaluation provisions in the Valuation Acts 2001-2015 provide for the revaluation of all rateable property within a rating authority area so as to reflect changes in value due to economic factors such as business turnover, differential movements in property values or other external factors and changes in the local business environment. Revaluation is an important instrument in addressing historical anomalies in relation to commercial rates for both urban and rural properties and between particular classes of property within a local authority area.

The general outcome of the revaluations conducted to date by the Valuation Office has been that about 60% of ratepayers have had their liability for rates reduced following a revaluation and about 40% had an increase.

The amount of rates payable in any calendar year is a product of the valuation set by the Commissioner of Valuation, multiplied by the Annual Rate on Valuation (ARV) decided annually by the elected members of each local authority.

It is not the purpose of a revaluation to increase or decrease the total amount of commercial rates collected by local authorities but rather to ensure that the valuations used for rating purposes are up-to-date and reflect current market conditions. Section 56 of the Valuation Acts 2001 to 2015, as amended by section 8 of the Local Government (Business Improvement Districts) Act 2006, provides that I, as Minister, can make an order directing a rating authority to limit the overall amount of income it could raise through rates in the year following a revaluation to the total amount of rates liable to be paid to it in the previous year, adjusted for inflation. Rate Limitation Orders were made for the 2014 financial year in respect of the revaluation of Waterford local authorities.

Rates income data are published by local authorities in their Annual Financial Statements, which are published as a matter of course on local authority websites. As with all local charges, the invoicing and collection of due amounts is a matter for the local authority concerned to manage in light of prevailing circumstances and in accordance with normal accountancy procedures.

Information in respect of percentage of rates collected in Waterford in the years 2013 to 2016 is set out in the following table. 2016 is the latest year for which audited local authority Annual Financial Statement data are available.