The City of Johannesburg is losing huge amounts of money as a result of its failure to properly administer property rates, Advocate Anthonie Viviers, chair of the city’s 2008 Valuation Appeal Board, states in an affidavit in support of an urgent High Court application, notes a Moneyweb report. On the other hand, ratepayers who have been slapped with inflated valuations are prejudiced by delays in finalising their appeals.

Such delays are due to the messy state of Johannesburg’s property rates administration, according to Viviers. Ben Espach, director evaluations at Rates Watch, reportedly told Moneyweb that the rates bill of a shopping mall valued at R3.5bn amounts to more than R5m a month. If the valuation is too high, the owner will oppose it. If it is too low, it can go unnoticed and the city will lose that money. He also points out that rates on commercial buildings are recovered from tenants.

If the valuation is adjusted and rates recovered retrospectively, those tenants might have left, which leaves the owner with a problem. He says some valuations are blatantly wrong and it can take years to have it rectified. Viviers' application, which is expected to come before court on 27 September, is aimed at getting access for the Valuation Appeal Board to its own offices and records after the city locked it out. Moneyweb says it has learnt that the city has given notice that it will oppose the application. According to Viviers’ statement, the Valuation Appeal Board is a statutory body appointed in terms of the Local Government: Municipal Property Rates Act by the MEC for Local Government. It is responsible for hearing appeals by ratepayers or the city, as well as reviewing certain decisions of the municipal valuer.

Full Moneyweb report