Cut-off for Durban property valuation objections

cash-strapped ethekwini home and business owners who are crying foul over their new valuations have until the end of the month to object if their properties have been over- or undervalued, or incorrectly categorised.

municipal officials declined to say yesterday how many objections had been received, saying they were collating the numbers.

the new property valuations come into force on july 1.

property rates are calculated by multiplying the market value of a property by a cent amount in the rand, determined in the annual budget.

according to the municipality's website, if the market value of a property is r800 000 and the cent amount in the rand is r0.009 (0.9 of a cent), then the amount due for property rates will be r7 200 a year (r800 000 x r0.009).

this means that the property owner will pay r600 a month.

municipal spokesman thabo mofokeng said the draft budget for 2012/13 and the following two financial years would be submitted to the council for consideration this month.

the budget would first be provisionally approved by the council and the public consultation phase would take place next month, he said.

the budget is to be submitted for final council approval in may. mofokeng said that discussions on the budget were under way, so it would be "difficult to indicate at this stage what the changes will be".

the municipal property rates act requires that valuations be undertaken at least once every four years.

according to the municipality's website, there are many factors that influence the value of a property and these may broadly be broken down into location, property size, extent and type of buildings, quality and condition.

but heather sudding, manager of pam golding properties in durban, said that in the real estate market, the value was the price that a willing buyer was prepared to pay a willing seller at the time.

as a result, the market value - on which the municipal value was based - and selling price were not necessarily synonymous.

sudding said there were two pricing methods that were used in determining a property's value.

cost-based pricing used the value of the land and the replacement costs of the buildings, less depreciation.

value-based pricing was driven by supply and demand, so the price was driven by what buyers were willing to pay.

forms to be completed for objections to valuations are available from the real estate unit, 13th floor, 75 dr langalibalele dube street (winder street), durban, or at the sizakala customer centres and will be available for download from the municipal website www.durban.gov.za