Navan retailers struggling to pay rates, claims cllr

The plight of Navan retailers who are struggling to survive in the serious economic downturn and are facing legal proceedings for rates was highlighted by Cllr Francis Deane at a meeting of Navan Town Council last week. He proposed a motion calling for some kind of flexible payment plan for retailers and said legal prceedings should only be a last resort. The Mayor, Cllr Joe Reilly, said traders who move into a premises in the middle of the year often didn't realise that they could be liable for rates for the full year. He urged traders to check what is owed in rates on premises before taking them over, because they could inherit a rates liability. Cllr Deane said that many Navan traders were finding business very difficult during the current recession. "This has an influence on their ability to pay the commercial rates and water rates which fall due each year," he said. He said it had been reported to him that legal proceedings were in place against many local retailers and he wondered if a better and fairer system could be put in place to communicate with these traders and work out a flexible payment plan, rather than taking the legal route early on. He said he was referring mainly to people who had always honoured these commitments in the past, but who now faced new challenges to their survival. Legal proceedings should be a last resort because of the added expense involved for both sides, he added. Cllr Padraig Fitzsimons pointed out that when it came to water rates, local pubs and hotels were being penalised because there was just one public toilet in the town. "People in the town who need to go to the toilet use the facilities in pubs and hotels and the businesses are penalised for every flush," he said. Cllr Jim Holloway said it was possible for ratepayers to make arrangements with the council. "Those who pay their rates might not take too kindly to letting off people who don't pay them," he said.