Rates objections outcry
Residents fear rates will be increased while objections lodged in 2017 remain unresolved
RESIDENTS who lodged property valuation objections with the ethekwini Municipality last year fear their rates could be increased again while their objections were still pending.
They told the Sunday Tribune that they had not been contacted by the municipality about their objections.
Unresolved objections could have serious implications for many property owners who wanted to sell their homes or buildings.
The municipality evaluates properties every four years, to determine the rates owners should pay each month.
Some property owners feared they could be subjected to another rates increase in July, even though their properties were wrongly valued.
Durban North resident Derrick Stuart said his property’s value was doubled despite not making any changes to it.
“I handed in my objection 14 months ago and have not received any information.
“We may have to pay more on rates if this problem is not resolved soon,” said Stuart.
The city’s spokesperson, Mandla Nsele said 9 927 objections were lodged.
Nsele said the deadline for processing was extended from June until November due to the shortage of staff.
However, by June only 52% of the objections lodged were processed.
He said the progress was hampered by a number of competing priorities within the department which meant the target date had to be adjusted.
This included capturing and uploading all objections on to the