Has your property been over valued by the municipality?

The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality has announced its draft property valuation roll is now available for all ratepayers to review. This means, property owners in the metro have until the end of March 2023 to inspect and object to the current valuation of their property prescribed by the municipality.

For over-valued properties that miss this opportunity to object and ultimately rectify the valuation, the roll is paving the way for possible rate and tax increases. This, while South Africans are already hard-pressed, struggling to stay afloat amidst the gloomy economic climate, high costs of fuel, food and living, and load-shedding. Property owners may now have to absorb and add to their list, the higher-than-expected hike in rates and taxes.

This is why property owners are urged to ensure that the municipal valuations are correct by checking the current valuations as listed by the municipality. Should owners feel that their property has been overvalued, or incorrectly categorised, they may lodge an objection.

Properties across all South African municipalities have a municipal value and market value. Each property is valued at market value, which is the amount the property would have realised if sold on the date of valuation in the open market by a willing seller to a willing buyer. By law, these amounts should be the same, however, in some municipalities, the amounts differ.

In cases like these City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality property owners can, in accordance with Section 49(1)(a)(ii) of the Local Government Property Rates Act, 2004, make objections to the municipality in person if the municipal value differs substantially from the market value.

The General Valuation Roll, which is a register of properties in an area governed by a municipality, is published every few years. The valuation stipulated by the municipality determines the rates and taxes a property owner is liable for during the subsequent few years under the authority of that municipality.

Property owners who neglect to object to valuation discrepancies in time will be liable to pay the rates and taxes that may be inflated due to an incorrect municipal property valuation.

There should be no discrepancy between your municipal property valuation and your property’s actual value. Failure to object to discrepancies between these two values may not only affect your rates and taxes, but can also affect future sales values. It is up to you, the homeowner, to identify and object to any discrepancies, not the municipality, so be sure to ascertain both values and ensure that no issues are present.

Hayley Ivins-Downes is head of digital for Lightstone.