The Democratic Alliance in eThekwini has serious concerns regarding the proposed amendments, by the Department of Cooperative Governance & Local Government, to the Municipal Property Rates Bill.
In particular the one that will affect most residents, homeowners and investors is the amended change to the definition of “residential property” on page 13 of the bill, where it states;
“residential property means property of which the primary use or permitted use is for residential purposes, excluding such property used to accommodate persons other than the owner for gain”
This alone will be devastating to the property market, if those properties are rated at commercial rates it would make the rentals unaffordable, there would be no investment in property and the property values will plummet. If the values plummet owners will still be paying rates on the higher value longer because the bill also looks to extend valuations from 5 to 7 years. The extension of valuations is problematic because it means that if property market values go down the rates will remain based on higher valuations from the last valuation done.
I urge all residents and property owners to make their voices heard on this issue as it is going to affect everyone of us, property owners and renters alike.
When is this government going to stop trying to get every drop of blood from the current ratepayers and work instead on increasing both the rates and tax base. This bill does the exact opposite.
The public have until the 22nd of July 2011 to make submissions on the proposed amendments, comments may be faxed to (021) 334-4811 or emailed to mpra@cogta.gov.za.
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