Businesses come together to lobby for lower rates

A meeting to discuss the high cost of rates for struggling local businesses and the lack of banking credit will take place in Trim Castle Hotel tomorrow (Thursday) evening at 7pm. The meeting has been organised by local businessman Joe Patterson and will see the establishment of the Trim Business Forum, whose main priority will be the issue of commercial rates. Businesses from around the county are welcome to attend. Mr Patterson hopes that other towns in the county will follow by setting up their own forums and that a Meath Business Forum could then be established. Proprietor of Grange Patio and Paving, located in the Oaktree Business Park in Trim, Mr Patterson said his company has a rates bill of €6,700 per year from the council and does not feel they are getting value for money for this money. He said businesses are struggling to survive and cannot afford to pay large rates bills, claiming that businesses continue to be rated on the “good times†despite the fact they are now in bad times. He wants to see rates reduced. Mr Patterson spoke passionately on the issue on the Joe Duffy's 'Liveline' show on RTE radio last week and is now encouraging local businesses to come together to form a forum and push for the rates issue to addressed to help businesses. He said: “People are getting huge rates bills. These are people working six to seven days a week without a wage, trying to survive. “Then they are getting notification to go to court or are told to pay by direct debit. Any common sense will tell you that if businesses are not taking in anything, they can't set up direct debits and the banks are not giving money to people.†One morning last week, Mr Patterson said he canvassed 10-15 businesses in Trim on the issue of rates and that they were all very concerned and many were unable to pay. Mr Patterson said all the political parties are talking about employment but no business wants to know about creating employment because it is all about surviving at the moment. He said businesses have been forgotten about and it seems the attitude of the council is that there would need to be a change in the law or the constitution before they could lower rates, yet the Finance Bill went through the Oireachtas in one weekend. Mr Patterson said he wants to see a system where there is value for money for their rates and transparency on what is done with the money collected in rates. “Miscellaneous is no longer acceptable, We need to know how much each job costs in the council. How much it costs for each square yard of road, how much to fill potholes, what the employment structure is in the council,†he added. He commented that there was no way they got value for their rates over Christmas and that the county had shut down for December, with nobody going out because they couldn't walk on the footpaths and the state of the roads. “No business person has a problem paying rates if there is value for money, not a system that was allowed to go out of control completely. If we can't borrow money from the banks because they are not lending and if businesses are not taking in money because of the downturn and consumers not spending, can they advise anybody where they can get the money to pay rates?†he asked. Meanwhile, an urgent meeting has been called by Oldcastle Chamber of Commerce to discuss rates, which will take place in Caffrey's Bar tonight (Wednesday) at 7.30pm. The meeting has been called at the request of the busienss community and local councillors have been invited to attend.