Background Notes

Introduction

This release provides information on public income and expenditure on Water Services at local authority level for the period 2000 to 2013. Operational and capital figures are both included. Expenditure on maintenance and investment in water and waste water treatment plants have an impact on the quality of drinking water supplies and on the status of water bodies such as rivers and lakes. Table 8 contains summary data for 2000-2013 for 88 local authorities. This is the most detailed geography level at which the data are available. The next release in this series will be for 2014 and will be based mainly on data provided by Irish Water rather than by the local authorities.

Data Sources

The Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (formerly the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government) provided the CSO with amalgamated Annual Financial Statements for all local authorities.

Section 107 of the Local Government Act 2001 requires local authorities to establish and maintain financial systems including the preparation of an annual financial statement. These annual statements set out the financial position of a local authority on the 31st December. The accounts are audited by the Local Government Audit Service. When all audits are complete, the Department publishes an amalgamated Annual Financial Statement for all local authorities. For the period 2000-2003, the Accounts were prepared on a cash basis. From 2004 onwards, they were prepared on an accruals basis, i.e. when the expense occurred rather than when payment took place. In a small number of cases, corrections were made to income and expenditure figures in subsequent Annual Financial Statements due to over accruals or under accruals for previous years. These corrections may appear as negative figures.

The Annual Financial Statements include expenditure incurred under the Water Services Investment Programme and under the Rural Water Programme. The individual local authorities would have also funded some water services from their own resources.

Categories of Income and Expenditure

This section lists the main classifications used in the Annual Financial Statement. Prior to 2008, the Annual Financial Statement was presented in a programme group structure. In 2008 it was replaced with a service-based structure. The new 2008 classification was adopted immediately by most local authorities but a small number provided data in 2008 under the old format, hence some of the more detailed categories are not available for all local authorities in 2008 (these more detailed categories are not included in this release).

The income and expenditure figures in the Annual Financial Statements include activities between local authorities, e.g. if a local authority sold water to another local authority, this would be recorded as income by the supplying local authority and as expenditure by the purchasing local authority.

Operational Income and Expenditure

This category covers the day-to-day running of the local authority including staff salaries, infrastructure maintenance, pensions, operational costs, etc. The CSO has made small changes to the headings used in the Annual Financial Statements in order to standardise the terms used for the full time series.

For 2000-2008, the operational income and expenditure categories presented in Tables 1B and 2B correspond with the following categories in the Annual Financial Statement: Public water supply schemes; Public sewerage schemes; Private installations; and Administration and miscellaneous.

For 2008-2013, the operational income and expenditure categories correspond with the following terms in the Annual Financial Statement: Operation and maintenance of water supply; Operation and maintenance of waste water treatment; Administration of group and private installations; and Collection of water and waste water charges, operation and maintenance of public conveniences, support to water capital programme, agency and recoupable services.

For 2000-2008, operational income can also be classified as: Water supply and sewerage state grants; Water supply and sewerage provision of goods and services; and Water supply and sewerage contributions from other local authorities.

For 2008-2013, operational income can be broken down further into the following sub-categories: State grants and subsidies; Provision of goods and services; and Contributions from other local authorities.

Capital Income and Expenditure

This category covers expenditure that results in the creation of an asset beyond the year in which that asset is provided.

For 2003-2013, the capital expenditure categories presented in Table 1C correspond with the following categories in the Annual Financial Statement (data for 2000-2002 are not available): Public water supply schemes; Public sewerage schemes; Private installations; and Administration and miscellaneous.

For 2000-2008, the capital income categories presented in Table 2C correspond with the following categories in the Annual Financial Statement: Water supply and sewerage loan instalments; and Water supply and sewerage other capital income.

For 2009-2013, the capital income categories in the Annual Financial Statement were: Grants; Non-mortgage loans; and Other capital income.

Classification of Local Authorities

Formerly there were 88 rating local authority areas (5 city, 29 county, 5 borough and 49 town councils) which are listed below. The Local Government Reform Act 2014 reduced this number to 31 local authorities.

The Local Authority Annual Financial Statements for 2000-2013 were compiled for the 88 local authorities. Prior to the Local Government Act 2001, these local authorities were responsible for Water Services for their respective area. However, the Local Government Act 2001, which took effect in January 2004, transferred water functions from borough and town councils to county councils. Some borough and town councils retained some responsibility related to Water Services but to a lesser extent. Hence, responsibility for income collection and expenditure on Water Services for a local authority could be at both county council and at town or borough council levels (e.g. Westmeath County Council expenditure and income figures included those for Athlone Town Council from 2004 onwards).

City councils (5): Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.

County councils (29): Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Fingal, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, North Tipperary, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, South Dublin, South Tipperary, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow.

Borough councils (5): Clonmel, Drogheda, Kilkenny, Sligo and Wexford.

Town councils (49): Arklow, Athlone, Athy, Ballina, Ballinasloe, Birr, Bray, Buncrana, Bundoran, Carlow, Carrick-on-Suir, Carrickmacross, Cashel, Castlebar, Castleblaney, Cavan, Clonakilty, Clones, Cobh, Dundalk, Dungarvan, Ennis, Enniscorthy, Fermoy, Kells, Killarney, Kilrush, Kinsale, Letterkenny, Listowel, Longford, Macroom, Mallow, Midleton, Monaghan, Naas, Navan, Nenagh, New Ross, Skibbereen, Templemore, Thurles, Tipperary, Tralee, Trim, Tullamore, Westport, Wicklow and Youghal.

Definitions

Administration of group and private installations operational expenditure includes administrative costs related to grants payable to individuals for private water installations, and in respect of water group schemes, waste water group schemes, and group water schemes subsidies. Salary and administrative costs in relation to the administration of group schemes, installations and overheads allocated from Central Management Charges are also included. This category is included in "Group schemes and other private installations" in Table 1B.

Administration of group and private installations operational income includes all grants and subsidies in respect of individual well, group water, and waste water schemes and subsidies in respect of group water schemes. This category is included in "Group schemes and other private installations" in Table 2B.

Agency and recoupable services operational expenditure refers to non-core services carried out by local authorities including licence and repayable works. These are mainly within the Roads and Water Service Divisions for road openings and water connections, etc. Costs relating to any staff from the Water Services Division currently on secondment out of the local authority are also included, as are costs apportioned from Central Management Charges and salaries of individuals working on agency services.

Agency and recoupable services operational income includes all income in respect of Agency and Recoupable Works for the Water Services Division including incomes such as water connection fee income, etc.

Central Management Charges are central costs which cannot be directly related to a particular service but which are part of the total costs of delivering services, e.g. overhead costs related to IT support and human resources.

Collection of water supply and waste water charges operational expenditure includes expenditure related to revenue collection costs such as the costs of revenue collectors, debt collection staff, strike-offs and other associated costs. Costs from Central Management Charges are also included.

Collection of water supply and waste water charges operational income includes income such as recoupment of legal fees in respect of the collection of water and waste water charges.

Contributions from other local authorities operational income refers to income received from other local authorities.

Grants for water supply and waste water treatment capital income apply to water supply and waste water schemes undertaken under the Water Services Investment and Rural Water Programmes. Under the Water Services Investment Programme 100% capital grants apply to the provision of new water and waste water services for domestic purposes. Water pricing policy requires the recovery of non-domestic capital costs for water services facilities on a marginal cost basis, i.e. charging non-domestic customers for the capital costs of new infrastructure on the basis of the additional costs required to provide water services for such customers over and above the cost of meeting domestic requirements.

Group and private installations expenditure and operational income involve mainly rural water projects related to individual private water installations and group water scheme installations.

Loan instalments capital income on water supply and waste water treatment includes loans repaid to the local authority in periodic instalments.

Loans capital income on water supply and waste water treatment can be divided into mortgage related loans and non-mortgage related loans. Mortgage related loans have a corresponding stream of income from long-term advances, i.e. monies lent by the local authorities to borrowers, for the purchase of houses. Non-mortgage related loans do not have a corresponding stream of income.

Local Government Fund is a special central fund which was established in 1999 under the Local Government Act 1998. Expenditure by local authorities on Water Services Capital Loans Recoupment and on the provision of services for group water schemes was met from the Local Government Fund.

Operation and maintenance of water supply/Public water supply schemes expenditure includes direct wages, materials, contracts, laboratory costs, etc. relating to the operation, maintenance, repair, improvements to and provision for water plants and networks. Costs associated with the purchase of water for the use of customers within the local authority area are also included, as well as, costs in relation to leakage control/detection, and financing/loan charges associated with the provision of water plants and networks and payable through the Income and Expenditure account. Testing of the water produced within the local authority’s water plants for public consumption, i.e. routine plant testing is included, as are salaries and general office expenses relating to the operation and maintenance of water supply and costs allocated from Central Management Charges.

Operation and maintenance of water supply/Public water supply schemes operational income includes all income in respect of the supply of water such as metered water charges and contributions/incomes received from other local authorities in respect of the supply of water. Rent in respect of masts on water towers, way-leave payments and other minor incomes with regard to water networks are also included. The portion of the Local Government Fund (LGF) that applies to Water Services is not included in this service.

Operation and maintenance of waste water treatment/Public sewerage schemes expenditure includes direct wages, materials, contracts, laboratory costs, etc. relating to the operation, maintenance, repair, improvements to and provision for waste water plants and networks. Costs associated with obtaining EPA licences for waste water treatment plants and subsequent statutory testing of discharge from waste water plants are also included, as well as, financing/loan charges associated with the provision of waste water plants and networks and payable through the Income and Expenditure account. Salaries and general office expenses relating to the operation and maintenance of waste supply and costs allocated from Central Management Charges are also included in this category.

Operation and maintenance of waste water treatment/Public sewerage schemes operational income includes income in respect of the treatment of waste water from commercial and industrial customers, such as waste water charges and income/contributions from other local authorities. Other minor incomes in respect of waste water plant and networks are also included.

Operation and maintenance of public conveniences operational expenditure includes wages and material costs relating to the operation, maintenance and provision of public conveniences including any general maintenance/contracts undertaken by local authorities in the provision of public conveniences. Salaries and associated costs of individuals working on matters relating to public conveniences and costs as allocated from Central Management Charges are also included.

Operation and maintenance of public conveniences operational income includes any incomes from the Operation of Public Conveniences.

Provision of goods and services operational income received by local authorities is revenue from the provision of a range of goods and services which they provide, e.g. housing rents, waste charges, water supplies and waste water treatment facilities. Some of the income from these charges can be used as expenditure in different goods and services categories. Hence capital expenditure on Water Services by local authorities may be partially funded from their own resources, e.g. income earned from waste charges.

State grants and subsidies operational income to local authorities embrace many aspects of their operation and are paid by various government departments in respect of particular services and schemes.

Support to Water Capital Programme expenditure includes technical and administrative costs associated with the Capital Account which the authorities are not permitted to recoup as part of capital grant. Overheads allocated from Central Management Charges are also included.

Support to Water Capital Programme operational income includes all income relating to the support of the capital and water programme not dealt with through the capital account.

Water Capital Programme expenditure refers to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government Water Services Investment Programme which relates to the provision of major water and waste water schemes, delivered by local authorities, for the main public water supply and waste water infrastructure.

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