Strabane ratepayersgetting £1.5 to adjust

Strabane ratepayers will collectively receive £1.5m in subsidies as part of a scheme to help them adjust to higher rates that are a consequence of the old District Council’s recent amalgamation with the comparatively debt-saddled Derry City Council.
DUP MLA Gary Middleton.DUP MLA Gary Middleton.
DUP MLA Gary Middleton.

DUP MLA Gary Middleton, who formerly represented ratepayers from both the Strabane and Londonderry territories of the new Derry City and Strabane District Council, asked the Finance Minister Arlene Foster about the District Rate Convergence scheme at Stormont.

He asked what “support her Department is providing ratepayers in Strabane?”

She replied: “Collectively, it is estimated that Strabane ratepayers will receive a District Rate subsidy amounting to £1.5m over the life of the scheme.

“By way of example, for a domestic ratepayer with a property that has a capital value of £125,000, this will represent a discount of £21 for the current financial year.

“For a non-domestic ratepayer occupying a property with an NAV of £15,000 this will represent a discount of £500 for the current financial year.”