Close to 200 property owners who objected to the value of their properties contained in the First Supplementary Valuation Roll have to wait for 30 days to hear the outcome of their objection.
Close to 200 property owners who objected to the value of their properties contained in the First Supplementary Valuation Roll have to wait for 30 days to hear the outcome of their objection.
Makana Municipality made the roll available to the public last month for a period of 30 working days. The period for objections closed on Friday last week.
The roll contained over over 9 000 properties, including sectional title properties. The Supplementary Valuation Roll contained properties which were ommited from the main valuation roll and those whose values were changed by the municipal valuer.
According the the municipality’s Chief Financial Officer, Jackson Ngcelwane, the municipality will make a window period for property owners who could not submit their objections on time due to the South African Municipal Workers strike.
He said the objections will be considered by themunicipal valuator and that the next stage will be the appeals board.
The Valuation Appeal Board is appointed by the MEC for Local Government and its task is to consider all appeals by property owners who are not satisfied with the outcome of their objections and to review the decisions of the municipal valuer.
According to the Municipal Property Rates Act (MPRA) of 2004 the valuation board may order a person whose appeal is “in bad faith or frivolous to compensate the municipality concerned in full or in part for costs incurred by the municipality in connection with the appeal”.
Meanwhile the department of Co-operative Governance is holding public hearings around the country regarding the amendment of the MPRA.
The amendment is a result of complaints from property owners regarding the new system of property valuation.
Municipalities used physical valuations where data collectors were contracted to gather information about each ratable property, Geographic Information System and drive-bys.
The department is considering making the following amendments to the act:
• The poor excluded from paying property rates;
• Roads, railways, airport aprons and runways, breakwater and dams be excluded
• Places of public worship and related residences to be exempt
• Determination of property categories that allows for regulation of rating by the minister
• More details to enable MECs to monitor, support and, where necessary, intervene in a municipality;
and
• Clarity whether above surface improvements related to mining activities
should be valued as well as who should be liable for paying rates;
• Dealing with the quality of valuations.
The department will propose the amendment to Parliament after all public
hearings have been concluded.
