Cavan Council sets Budget 2027 date

Cavan County Council has set Friday, November 20, as the date for its Budget 2027 meeting.

The date was confirmed by Margaret McNally, Head of Finance, ICT and Emergency Services, when she addressed councillors at their October monthly meeting last Monday.

An in-committee Budget meeting is, meanwhile, scheduled to take place at the Hotel Kilmore almost two weeks beforehand, giving councillors an opportunity to examine the figures and discuss spending priorities ahead of the main meeting.

The budget preparations come after councillors voted to increase the Local Property Tax (LPT) rate by ten percentage points for 2027, bringing it to 25%, with nine members voting in favour and six against.

In real terms, the increase means approximately 87% of Cavan homeowners will face an additional cost of around 50 cent per week.

The extra revenue is set to be ringfenced for the improvement and maintenance of the local road network.

At the time Chief Executive Eoin Doyle told councillors that the increase would help generate an additional €457,530 for council coffers annually. This was against a backdrop of inflationary pressures and rising operational costs.

Among the factors also highlighted were costs arising from Workplace Relations Commission decisions relating to the fire service, as well as the additional expense of taking on staff previously assigned to Uisce Éireann.

Roads and transportation already account for a substantial portion of council spending. In 2026 the total council budget stood at €313.7M, with a little under a tenth (€30.38 million) allocated specifically to roads and transportation.

At the October meeting Councillors also approved overdraft accommodation of €9M at the October meeting to cover local authority costs for the year ending December 31, 2027.

* See next week's paper for full council reports.