Waterford City and County Council has voted to keep the Local Property Tax the same as the last two years.
A vote took place at yesterday afternoon's plenary meeting.
Each year councillors are asked to vote on whether to increase or decrease the Local Property Tax from the base rate by a maximum of 15%.
For the last two years, it has been 10% above the base rate and yesterday, council members voted to keep it at that for the next two years.
€4.5 million budget deficit
Council Chief Executive, Michael Walsh, outlined to members beforehand how badly needed the money that that will bring in is.
The council is facing into a €4.5 million deficit for next year's budget and that is largely due to the rising cost of materials and energy.
Keeping the Local Property Tax at the same rate is worth a million euro to the local authority - or €998,660 to be exact.
The CEO outlined, that while the rising costs will inevitably mean tough decisions regarding the reduction of some services next year, this vote is vital in making sure as many as is possible can be maintained.
Under the new LPT bands introduced nationally last time around, this rate of 10%, means a household valued in the first band of 0-200,000 euro will pay an extra €9.
Sinn Féin's Conor McGuinness had tabled a counter-motion that the rate be reduced by 10% - ie, brought back to the base rate.
He stated that the tax in and of itself is completely unfair on people who are struggling to make ends meet at the moment and is nothing more than a tax on your family home.
However, the fear of services being cut meant the majority of councillors voted the other way.
The decision was carried by 24 votes to six.
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