Extra €55 million in city council's budget

Cork City Council last night agreed to its 2020 budget with €55 million extra on the books, most of which is due to this year’s historic boundary extension. 

The council agreed to an expenditure budget of €222.34 million for the next year at its annual budget meeting with councillors passing it by 27 for and three against. 

€37 million of this increase comes due to the extension of the city boundary with another €18,197,000 being a general expenditure increase on the 2019 budget.  

Over €5.8 million of this increased €18 million will be spent on homelessness in the city, a figure which Solidarity Cllr Fiona Ryan this morning said that “falls well short” in the light of the steps that need to be taken to address the housing crisis in the city.

Another €5.6 million of spend comes from a road restoration improvement grant, an extra €1.8 million will be spent on housing leasing next year, €500,000 will be spent on the European Maritime Day two-day conference, €2.3 million of spend is due to an increase in payroll, €1.1 million will be spent on staff pensions and a €500,000 Transport Infrastructure Ireland Maintenance Grant has provided the remainder of the spending increase .

Cork City Council Chief Executive, Ann Doherty said: “The challenge of Cork City Council’s budget is to ensure that the council continues to achieve a balanced allocation of resources to ensure that it means the competing demands across the social, economic, cultural, environmental and infrastructural developments of the city.”