Universal Design in Legislation, Policy and Practice "Non Principal Private Residence Online Payments Service - realising savings and efficiencies by moving to online channels " Claire Gilligan Assistant Director LGCSB 1

Background Project Savings and Efficiencies NPPR – realising savings and efficiencies by moving to online channels 2

October 2008: Minister for Finance announces a €200 charge on Non Principal Private Residences. November 2008: Decision to develop national (shared service) system rather than having each local authority “going it alone”. January 2009: LGCSB agrees to create and manage an online payment facility on behalf of the local government system; March 2009: Inaugural meeting of the Project Board July 2009: Online and Bureau service payment facilities completed; Media Campaign Commences; Legislation comes into effect Friday 31st July. August 2009: Payments begin to be made online by customers 3

The objective of the project was to provide a speedy, cost effective, efficient and user friendly system to maximise the income from the new €200 charge for non principal private residences. For the customer For the sector 4

Project Board Representation County and City Managers Association; Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government; Local Authority Representatives; Local Government Computer Services Board; Local Government Management Services Board; Private Residential Tenancies Board Revenue Commissioners 5

Single, centralised online system to be used by all local authorities Self declaration No waivers Limited refunds No part payments Onus on property owner to record reasons where property uninhabitable Cash not accepted U Legislation

7 Customer National online system ease of access for user – can pay charges for properties in multiple local authorities in a single transaction. Comprehensive FAQs Contact details for local authorities for liability queries Counter System for local authorities to respond to account queries Channels Online Bureau Submit to local authority Security & Data Protection information to users providing details on 2010 charge

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9 Local Authority Sector Online Single, centralised online system to be used by all local authorities Unified approach from local authorities Series of information workshops by LGCSB and Dept of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Project Board members Training and familiarisation of local authority staff Bureau – centralised standard approach – mitigates against different interpretations and implementation of approach in handling payments

10 Local Authority Sector Addressing Ease of administration of fund nationally Standard promotional material – radio advertising, local newspapers, local media Standard backend system to provide information, reporting, querying Security & Data Protection

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Awareness of Security & Data Protection  Sensitive personal data  High level of confidentiality needed Local awareness and education Adherence and implementation of guidelines on security  E.g. Usage of logins  Verification of identity for account queries  Searches on database U Security & Data Protection

Online & Offline system development costs & hosting for 2009 – 450K 13 k per local authority Estimates if go it alone approach Development 50K * 34 local authorities - €1.7 million Overall costs: Development, hosting, transaction charges, data processing charges €3.93 average per property 1.96% of €200 Cost per property processed on line - €3.01 Additional charge per property if processed by bureau €2.77 the application of a discount for paying online would require a change in legislation 13 Savings and Efficiencies

Savings; Licensing Hosting GeoDirectory licensing Performance Testing Security Testing Translation Redistribution of funds Administrative overhead locally Supporting 34 individual installations 14 Savings and Efficiencies

Did the project achieve it’s objectives? The objective of the project was to provide a speedy, cost effective, efficient and user friendly system to maximise the income from the new €200 charge for non principal private residences. Projected figure was €40 million, €62 million collected. Reports in the media - based of the success of the NPPR model a similar approach could be looked at for the implementation of a property tax. Sunday Tribune 30 th May

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