As Dublin City Council prepares to debate the level of Local Property Tax for 2018 at a special meeting of the Council this evening, the Green Party has backed the Chief Executive's call for increased spending on services for those most in need.Councillor Ciarán Cuffe stated: “An additional 50c per week on a home worth €300,000 would raise €4 million for the city. As the Chief Executive points out this money could be used to kick start a new apprenticeship programme, recruit more cleansing staff and buy more books for our libraries. We fully endorse the Chief Executive’s call to provide greater services. In addition we suggest that he set up a one-stop shop to track down vacant and derelict properties and fast-track their conversion into homes.“The Manager is proposing a 5% increase in Local Property Tax this year. We suggest that this be 7.5% to fund the 'one-stop shop' to deliver homes for those most in need.”Councillor Claire Byrne stated: “Nobody wants to pay more taxes. However, the LPT is the one tax that actually goes directly back to local government services. While what Dublin City gets is not near enough, we can't keep reducing it and then spending the year complaining in the chamber that we have no money. €4 million will still go a long way towards the rapid renovation of vacant spaces that we need for homes & artists’ studios, fixing footpaths, greening the city, improving public realm, keeping our streets clean of litter and dog fouling and generally improving the quality of life in the City. That's what local government is all about.”Councillor Patrick Costello stated: “Every week Councillors look for Dublin City Council to do more for the people of Dublin, but every year we vote to gut the budget and rob the council of its ability to do anything by dropping the LPT as much as we can. This really doesn't make any sense and is a disservice to the people of Dublin.”Dublin City Council meets at 6.15pm this evening in City Hall on Dame Street to debate and vote on these proposals.ENDSPress release issued 19th September 2017 , page last updated 19th September 2017