“You will be inundated with objections” warned a woman at a municipal public participation meeting held at the City Hall on Monday 18 February evening. She was one of more than a hundred angry ratepayers sharing their opinions on the latest property valuation roll with Makana’s new Chief Financial Officer, Gerard Goliath and professional valuer, Salwen Butler [subs: correct].
The meeting was held in terms of the Municipal Properties Act of 2004 which requires the municipality to hold public meetings to explain the Certified General Valuation Roll. Goliath chaired the meeting and Butler represented Sizanane Consulting, the company entrusted with valuating the more than 20,000 properties in the Makana Municipality.
Ratepayers expressed their dismay at the idiosyncratic way that the valuations were done without any apparent consistency. The Grahamstown Residents’ Association Secretary, Tim Bull, said there was widespread unhappiness about the valuations process while advocate Jock McConnachie said the roll, “… is riddled with inconsistencies and anomalies”. His demand that “this roll should be rejected out of hand” was met with vigorous applause.
Many bizarre titbits in the roll could have been amusing if they were not so serious, such as classifying the Settlers’ Monument as an industrial property or categorising several commercial enterprises in African Street as residences.
Residents shared dozens of accounts of similar sized properties located in the same area but were assessed at vastly different rates. This countered Butler’s claim that he used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data to calculate property size which was then rated at a consistent per square metre rate.
Most people present, however, were upset because their valuations were increased substantially even though the market value of their properties had dropped. To make matters worse, most ratepayers blame the municipality for declining market prices.
They said that Makana Municipality’s inability to deliver basic services such as water, sanitation, garbage collection and road maintenance is having a detrimental effect on property values and on businesses.
Chairperson of the Grahamstown Residents’ Association (GRA), Philip Machanick, commented outside the meeting that, “From residents’ perspective, valuations should not be increased since by all accounts property values are not rising. It is up to the municipality to make the case that values should increase, not us”.
Ratepayers accused Butler of lying when he said that although he had not met with the local business sector, he had met with estate agents. He did not seem to reckon with almost all high profile estate agents being present in the audience. They stated categorically that they had not met with anyone from Sizanane.
Butler specifically said he had consulted with the Remax agent – a statement that was denied by the representative in audience.
The draft roll uses an old trick to make increases in property valuations seem not so bad. It is common practice to calculate a percentage increase based on the previous value. One of the ratepayers illustrated this ruse by asking: “If the value of a property was increased from R1 million to R2 million, how much is the percentage increase?”
Everyone shouted in unison that it was ‘one hundred percent’. However, according to the municipality’s system, the increase was only fifty percent because the percentage was calculated on the new valuation.
In a similar way, a 25% increase on the old valuation is calculated as only 20% on the new valuation.
Goliath acknowledged that the municipality was not happy with the efforts of Sizanane, but in trying to find something positive about the new roll he said, “Not all the property valuations are incorrect”.
Machanick reflected the views of the majority of residents who believe that the municipality inflated rates as a means of adding to their depleted coffers. He said that “We understand there is a balance between the municipality trying to increase revenue and valuations that reflect property values”.
Goliath countered this view stating adamantly that, “I don’t want to milk the ratepayer anymore”.
He explained that within the next week or two, residents will be receiving Section 49 letters advising them of the new rates and how to lodge objections. He added that the new valuations have to be applied as from July 2019.
As an outcome of Monday’s meeting, a small group residents agreed to meet with the new CFO and with Butler to discuss a way of resolving the widespread dissatisfaction about the valuations roll.
Goliath encouraged residents to write to the municipality with queries and complaints saying that “no objection goes unanswered”.
NOW SEE HOW MUCH YOUR RATES INCREASED
CSS Geographical Information Specialists used data from Makana Municipality’s rates spreadsheet to make two graphics that provide an at-a-glance view of precentage increases across Makhanda (Grahamstown), as well as comparative market values across the city. Find the maps and the explanation at http://bit.ly/GrocRates
