GV 2018 MUNICIPAL VALUATIONS
Category Advice
GV 2018 MUNICIPAL VALUATIONS
By now property owners in the Western Cape are accustomed to receiving revised municipal valuations on an 'efficient' three year cycle, with the Cape Town Municipality/Municipal Valuer preparing a General Valuation (GV) roll and publishing it, on this occasion during March 2019.
The approximately 875 000 property owners within the Cape Town Unicity will again have an opportunity to review their individual municipal (market) values and lodge objections against the provisional figures, as per the Municipal Property Rates Act [6 of 2004]. Cape Town has traditionally been more 'generous' than other local authorities by providing two full months in which to lodge such objections and property owners have the option of lodging their own objections or appointing a representative to do so on their behalf. It is often recommended that a professional valuer handles objections due to the complexity of certain types of value determinations, e.g. commercial/income producing/multi tenanted properties.
The first GV under the current Rates Act was the GV of 2006. Our team of valuers represented a wide range of property owners in handling objections and where necessary, subsequent appeals against the valuations in each GV, i.e. this will be the fifth GV roll to be published under the Rates Act.
With the GV2018 date of valuation being 1 July 2018, the question to pose oneself is simply: "Does the provisional municipal valuation allocated to my property fairly reflect the estimated market value of the property on 1 July 2018?" If the answer to that question is that the estimated market value was the same or higher than the provisional municipal valuation, then there is no need to consider an objection.
However, as in previous valuation rolls, property owners (or their agents) need to firstly, verify the accuracy of the data used to calculate their municipal value and thereafter, need to ensure that the municipal valuation is fair and reasonable.
If there is uncertainty over any of those aspects, you may wish to instruct a valuer or similar expert of your choice and we are available to assist property owners.
Should you require asssitance please contact Pauline at pauline@steer.co.za.
Author: John van der Spuy