WHEN a Summerstrand resident recently received his Section 49 notice from the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, stating the value of his property, he was shocked to see that the value of his house had suddenly skyrocketed.
While a greater property value may seem great to some, for Morné Condon, this 35% increase in value – which is almost R1 million – is a great concern.
Condon explained that he received this notice from the municipality that contains information on his property from the General Valuation Roll, including the municipality’s market value for his property.
This notice is something that every homeowner should receive and the valuation indicated is used to calculate your rates account since, as per the FAQ of the March 2020 Municipal Property Rates Act No.6 of 2004, rates are calculated by multiplying the market value of a property by a cent amount in the rand rate that a municipal council has determined.
“In my case this valuation in the Section 49 notice is R900 000 more than is contained in the Municipality’s Property Register and this inflated figure also reflects in the General Valuation 2022.
“This means that the municipality will calculate my rates bill on this significantly inflated figure and continue doing so into the future,” Condon said.
He mentioned that there was no way that his property had appreciated in value by this much since the last valuation he had done, which was not long before the pandemic started.
“Two years into an international pandemic there is no way that this kind of increase in value is possible or realistic.
“It would be extremely difficult to realise this kind of increase in even a good property market without significant upgrades taking place.
“The fact that the municipality is quite happy to post such a document with an unrealistic valuation indicates to me they are either out of touch with reality or are not following the stipulations of the Act for municipal rates,” he said.
He continued by saying that the market value of a property must be determined by a professional valuer or professional associated valuer who must be a person registered in terms of the Property Valuers Profession Act 2000 (Act No.47 of 2000) and that no such person has visited his property in order to comply with this stipulation.
“Within the document, Amended Basic Information for Ratepayers March 2020, it contains information that rates are collected and used locally, not nationally for: ‘installing and maintaining streets, roads, sidewalks, lighting, and storm drainage facilities; and operating parks, recreational facilities and cemeteries.’
“The municipality is thus contractually obligated to provide value for the rates that they charge and I doubt very much they can convince anyone that their current service level is acceptable looking at the state of the city,” Condon said.
“Personally, I think sending out significantly inflated valuations makes it appear as though the municipality is hoping many people will not object, thus allowing them a boost in income that isn’t earned or deserved for what they are delivering.
“The new valuations should have been done by taking into account the current financial situation created by the pandemic, local employment levels and the current reality of the real estate market, and it should have been checked and confirmed,” he added.
“I know others who are in a similar situation to myself, having received significantly higher valuations than the local market would indicate is even close to realistic.”
As per the Section 49 notice, every property owner can lodge an objection if they so desire, in respect of any matter reflected on the Valuation Roll within a specific period.
The lodging of objections can be done at all customer care centres or online on the NMBM website: www.nelsonmandelabay.gov.za.
Property owners have until April 29, 2022 to lodge objections.
Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality spokesperson, Kupido Baron, said that property values are calculated according to market value.
“We have no ulterior motives when it comes to these property values so that the municipality can make extra money from it,” he emphasised.
“If residents are unhappy with anything, they are encouraged to follow the processes to lodge a complaint,” he added.
