Property owners must pay up
Residents must pay their rates, even if they have objections to their new property evaluations.
So says Edenvale resident, Clr Eddie Taylor, from the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Ekurhuleni, who is the DA’s shadow member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for finance in the metro.
“It is best for objectors to pay the rates as they appear on the bills they receive, unless there have been such gross errors on their valuations that the increase charged could not be considered reasonable. The objections review to the valuation roll will take some time to complete, but during this time the metro will continue to bill residents at the new rate. During this process, residents have two options: to either pay the amount they have been billed, or what they believe they should be charged, in accordance with their objections,” said Clr Taylor.
He said that if, at the end of the objection process it is established that the property owner was charged more, he will be credited.
“Once the valuation objection has been processed, a final valuation figure will be determined. Should the valuation come back as lower than the rate billed upon, that person would have their account credited with the shortfall. However, a resident whose valuation comes back at the same rate, or higher, and who has been paying an estimated amount will be expected to pay in the shortfall,” said Clr Taylor.
