{"id":52717,"date":"2020-04-15T09:35:40","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T07:35:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/hermanustimes\/apposed-to-hermanus-special-ratings-area-20200415\/"},"modified":"2025-03-20T07:04:12","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T05:04:12","slug":"apposed-to-hermanus-special-ratings-area-20200415","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/hermanustimes\/apposed-to-hermanus-special-ratings-area-20200415\/","title":{"rendered":"Apposed to Hermanus Special Ratings Area"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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After a process of public engagement, voting and objections, on 25 March, the Overstrand Council approved three Special Rating Areas- Hermanus, Onrus\/Vermont and Kleinmond. I am a Hermanus property owner and I was one of the few ratepayers who submitted an objection to the Municipality. I objected because I believe that the process was not legally compliant and that ratepayers were not informed what it is that the increased rates would buy.

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I did engage with the Hermanus Special Ratings Area Steering Committee about my concerns but they did not give me any more information on what ratepayers will get for their money. They just said that they will follow a \u201cRequest for Proposals\u201d (RFP) process to appoint service providers. I enquired about their process and their answers were very concerning to me.

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I am still concerned they ratepayers do not know what the HSRA will spend their money on and it looks like the HSRA\u2019s buying process may not be fully transparent and with questionable governance. Ratepayers should remember \u2013 they voted for this and my guess is that the Municipality will take a hands off approach to governance \u2013 they will leave it to ratepayers to manage.

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The HSRA Steering Committee did not give any explanation for why they did not do all of the things that the law, by-law and regulations require of them. These laws require that I send my objection to the Municipality, which I did. The municipality were totally silent during the whole process \u2013 they did not engage with me and said nothing at all.

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Hermanus ratepayers do know what their money will buy \u2013 the HSRA expects ratepayers to trust that they will get benefits. Not possessing the ability of blind trust, I did some looking into this matter. The HSRA will take R8.3 million of ratepayers money in the next year, increasing every year by around half a million for the next five years. This is considerably more than both Onrus\/Vermont and Kleinmond SRAs. Per property, Hermanus ratepayers will be paying 3.2 time more that Onrus\/Vermont ratepayers and 3.6 time more than Kleinmond ratepayers.

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Now, some people may be inclined to play numbers games and say \u2013 that is not the right picture, look at the rates on property valuations. Well, I did and Hermanus will still be paying around double what other SRAs are asking \u2013 no matter how one looks at the numbers. From their business plan all we know is that HSRA will do some monitoring, security patrols and cleaning of public spaces. These things are not more expensive in areas with high property values \u2013 like Hernaus compared to Onrus\/Vermont\/Kleinmond. To rhe contrary, I would expect that for similar services, Hermanus (with more expensive properties) would pay less per property that the other locations.

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What does Hermanus get for paying so much more than Onrus\/Vermont and Kleinmond \u2013 do we get some sort VIP service or what? The answer is we do not know and the HSRA has not told us. The Onrus\/Vermont business plan has more details than we got in Hermanus. The Hermanus SRA business plan was a draft. Despite strong objections, the HSRA was somehow processed and their business plan was accepted by the Municipality.

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Andre du Toit,

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Hermanus<\/address>\n
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Michael Farr, chairperson of te Hermanus Special Ratings Area Steering Committee responds:<\/strong> Kindly note that we have responded in writing to many communications we received from Mr Du Toit and he has been provided with comprehensive information which we believe addresses his enquiries.<\/p>\n

\u201c We engaged with Mr du Toit on the questions he raised and provided him with comprehensive responses. He had access to our 35 page business plan, our PowerPoint presentation and an assortment of reference documents including our public perception survey on the HSRA website.

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With regard to the budget of R8.3 million per annum, this budget and its line items was presented at 3 public meetings and was supported by the vast majority of ratepayers (there were less than 8 written objections) in the HSRA area. This budget provides for an inflation linked increase annually and is detailed in our business plan.

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We understand that Mr du Toit was present at our first public meeting in December and I am not aware of any questions posed by him at this meeting.

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It is our firm view that Mr du Toit was provided with as much information in our written responses and through his access to all documentation on our website which will have provided a full and detailed repository of all information pertinent to his queries.

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I wish to refute very strongly Mr du Toit\u2019s claims around lack of detail and issues of governance as well as the legal compliance of the application. The Overstrand Municipality and the Steering Committee of the HSRA are both satisfied that the correct processes and procedures were adhered to\u201d.

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