Property owners are at the mercy of the City of Joburg’s mass appraisal system, which will decide what a property is worth regardless of what estate agents value it at.
Some home owners have also received multiple appraisals for the same property, bearing exorbitant differences in the values.
Doug Hillen said he received two municipal property valuations for his Lyndhurst home, one of which is more than double the value of the first.
As a result, the 76-year-old was not eligible for a pensioner rebate because his second appraisal of R3 070 000 exceeded the maximum value to qualify for the rebate.
According to Hillen, the City of Joburg initially valued his home at R1 430 000 when he applied for a rebate in May 2013.
However, the documents for the first application were mislaid and Hillen was forced to re-submit all the documents, which resulted in a second municipal valuation of R3 070 000 in July 2013.
“[The second valuation] is ridiculous as the maximum price attained in the suburb during 2013 was R 1 200 000 as per the copy of a letter from Pam Golding Properties dated 5 November 2013,” he said.
However, the city council’s Director of Customer Communications Stan Maphologela, said a letter from an estate agent or another valuer would not impact the council’s appraisal because it is merely an opinion – not evidence.
“It should be remembered that a valuation is an opinion by a valuer based upon the market factors at his disposal and also based upon the details and characteristics of the property.”
He acknowledged Hillen’s application for a rebate but said the application was still being considered.
However, in the interim Hillen was forced to pay current rates on what he claimed was a much higher incorrect valuation.
According to Hillen, the current is a financial burden to us and we require the valuation to be corrected and back dated to May 2013.
However, Hillen was required to object to the city council’s appraisal in a bid to have it amended but Maphologela noted that no objection was lodged against the entry for Hillen’s property in the 2013 General Valuation Roll.
However, according to The Star objecting to a municipal property valuation was equally problematic.
The Star reported that in instances where property owners who had successfully objected, an automatic, computer-generated system kicked the successful objection out if the value was reduced by 10 percent.
Maphologela said the outcome of all objections, whether successful or not, or adjusted by more or less than 10 percent, would be implemented.
The computer system is merely a tool which was used to assist with the valuation process and the managing of the flow of information, he added.
He said there was a lot of confusion amongst the public regarding a change of value by more than 10 percent.
“Section 52(1) of the Act specifies that any value which is adjusted by more than 10 percent [upwards or downwards] following an objection must be forwarded to the Valuation Appeal Board to be reviewed.”
“The Valuation Appeal Board is an independent body which is established by the MEC for Local Government and the Board must confirm, amend or revoke the objection result,” he said.
