LOCAL GOVERNMENT (TEMPORARY REDUCTION OF VALUATION) ACT, 1954

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR TEMPORARY REDUCTION OF VALUATION IN CERTAIN CASES AND TO AMEND AND EXTEND WITH RETROSPECTIVE EFFECT THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT (REMISSION OF RATES) ACT, 1940. [10th March, 1954.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:—

PART I. Preliminary and General.

1 Short title.

1.—This Act may be cited as the Local Government (Temporary Reduction of Valuation) Act, 1954.

2 Collective citation.

2.—The Local Government (Remission of Rates) Acts, 1940 to 1952, and so much of this Act as relates to the amendment and extension of the Local Government (Remission of Rates) Act, 1940 (No. 8 of 1940), may be cited together as the Local Government (Remission of Rates) Acts, 1940 to 1954.

PART II. Temporary Reduction of Valuation for Rating Purposes.

3 Interpretation (Part II).

3.—(1) In this Part of this Act—

“the Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Valuation;

“the prescribed period” means the period beginning on the 27th day of July, 1953, and ending on the 26th day of July, 1956;

“revised valuation list” means a revised valuation list under the Valuation Acts;

“valuation” means a valuation under the Valuation Acts.

• (2) Any reference in this Act to an increase in the valuation of a tenement including a building or part of a building shall, in the case of a tenement having a valuation portion of which is assigned to buildings, be construed as a reference to an increase in that portion.

• (3) This Part of this Act shall be deemed not to apply in respect of—

• (a) the erection of a building where the building is a cottage provided under the Labourers Acts, 1883 to 1952, or a house provided under the Housing of the Working Classes Acts, 1890 to 1952,

• (b) the erection, enlargement or improvement of a building where a grant or relief from rates is, by reference to the erection, enlargement or improvement, given under the Housing (Gaeltacht) Acts, 1929 to 1953,

• (c) the erection, enlargement or improvement of a building where a grant or relief from rates is, by reference to the erection, enlargement or improvement, given under the Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Acts, 1932 to 1952, the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1948 (No. 1 of 1948), the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1950 (No. 25 of 1950), or the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1952 (No. 16 of 1952),

• (d) the enlargement or improvement of a building where the building, being a cottage provided under the Labourers Acts, 1883 to 1952, or a house provided under the Housing of the Working Classes Acts, 1890 to 1952, is owned by a local authority,

• (e) the enlargement or improvement of a building, being a building existing at the commencement of the prescribed period, where the enlargement or improvement results from carrying out a work of trivial nature of alteration, extension, repair or renewal,

• (f) the erection, enlargement or improvement of a building where, by reference to the erection, enlargement or improvement, section 14 of the Valuation (Ireland) Act, 1852, applies, or

• (g) the erection, enlargement or improvement of a building where, by reference to the erection, enlargement or improvement, a remission of rates has been granted under section 9 of the Undeveloped Areas Act, 1952 (No. 1 of 1952),

and in the subsequent sections of this Part of this Act “erection”, “enlargement” and “improvement” shall be construed accordingly.

• (4) Any reference in subsection (3) of this section to a series of Acts or an Act shall be construed as including a reference to any Act (whether passed before or after the passing of this Act) amending or extending that series or Act.

4 Temporary reduction of valuation for rating purposes.

4.—(1) Where the erection, enlargement or improvement of a building is begun and completed during the prescribed period and an increase in the valuation of a tenement including the building or part of the building is made by reason solely or partly of the erection, enlargement or improvement, the valuation of the tenement shall be deemed to be reduced for rating purposes by two-thirds of the increase.

• (2) In this section “rating purposes” means the following (and no other) purposes, that is to say, the purposes of the assessment and levying of any rate raised by a local authority for the service of the local financial year commencing next after the completion of the erection, enlargement or improvement of the building or for the service of the next following six local financial years.

• (3) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of subsection (2) of this section restricting the meaning of “rating purposes”, it is hereby enacted in particular that notwithstanding the valuation (in this subsection referred to as the full valuation) of a tenement being deemed under this section to be reduced in relation to any local financial year, every computation for the purposes of the Income Tax Acts, and every computation for the purpose of the duty on any excise licence charged by reference to valuation, shall be made in like manner as if the full valuation were in force for all purposes in relation to that local financial year.

5 Determinations by the Commissioner and appeals therefrom.

5.—The following provisions shall have effect for the purposes of section 4 of this Act:

• (a) the Commissioner shall determine whether any increase in the valuation of a tenement was or was not made by reason solely or partly of the erection, enlargement or improvement, begun and completed during the prescribed period, of a building which, or part of which, is included in the tenement;

• (b) where the Commissioner determines that the increase was made by reason solely or partly of the erection, enlargement or improvement, begun and completed during the prescribed period, of a building which, or part of which, is included in the tenement, he shall indicate that determination on the appropriate revised valuation list;

• (c) where no such indication appears on the appropriate revised valuation list, that fact shall be taken to be an indication by the Commissioner that he has determined that the increase was not made by reason solely or partly of the erection, enlargement or improvement, begun and completed during the prescribed period, of a building which, or part of which, is included in the tenement;

• (d) where, at any revision of valuations within seven years after the completion of the erection, enlargement or improvement, two or more new tenements are found to exist in place of the former tenement or tenements in which the building was included, the Commissioner shall determine in the case of each of the new tenements the amount which constitutes the increase in valuation made by reason solely or partly of the erection, enlargement or improvement and shall indicate that determination in the appropriate revised valuation list;

• (e) any person aggrieved by a determination made by the Commissioner under this section may appeal against the determination in the same manner and subject to the same limitations as a person aggrieved by the valuation of a tenement as stated in the relevant revised valuation list may appeal under the Valuation Acts against that valuation.

PART III. Temporary Reduction of Valuation (Buncrana).

6 Interpretation (Part III).

6.—In this Part of this Act—

“the county” means the county of Donegal;

“the urban district” means the urban district of Buncrana;

“relevant local financial year” means a local financial year specified in the Schedule to this Act;

“the appropriate amount” means, in relation to a relevant local financial year, the amount specified in the Schedule to this Act in respect of that year.

7 Temporary reduction of valuation (Buncrana).

7.—In applying subsection (6) of section 10 of the Local Government Act, 1946 (No. 24 of 1946), in relation to the expenses of the council of the county which are charged in a relevant local financial year and are county-at-large charges, the following provisions shall have effect notwithstanding subsection (7) of that section:

• (a) the valuation of the county shall be taken to be the appropriate amount plus the total of the valuations appearing in the valuation lists for the time being in force under the Valuation Acts of all the hereditaments and tenements in the portion of the county which is not the urban district,

• (b) the valuation of the urban district shall be taken to be the appropriate amount.

PART IV. Amendment and Extension of Local Government (Remission of Rates) Act, 1940.

8 Amendment and extension.

8.—(1) Subsection (1) of section 1 of the Local Government (Remission of Rates) Act, 1940 (No. 8 of 1940), is hereby amended by the deletion, in the definition of the expression “the prescribed period”, of the date “the 31st day of March, 1953”, inserted therein by the Local Government (Remission of Rates) Act, 1952 (No. 23 of 1952), and the substitution therefor of the date “the 31st day of March, 1954”.

• (2) Subsection (1) of this section shall be deemed to have come into operation on the coming into operation of the Local Government (Remission of Rates) Act, 1940.

• (3) Notwithstanding the foregoing subsections of this section, the Local Government (Remission of Rates) Act, 1940 shall be deemed not to apply in respect of any erection, enlargement or improvement begun on or after the 27th day of July, 1953, and in that Act “erection”, “enlargement” and “improvement” shall be construed accordingly.

SCHEDULE. Relevant Local Financial Years and Appropriate Amounts.