The City of Johannesburg will decide what your property is worth according to a mass appraisal system, regardless of the condition of your home and irrespective of what estate agents value it at.
And don’t bother to object, because even if you succeed, an automatic, computer-generated system will kick the successful objection out if the value is reduced by 10 percent.
This is the reality for thousands of Joburg property owners who have objected to the 2013 valuation of their properties.
Not only will you not be informed about this decision, you’ll not get another chance to object.
A Bryanston resident recently objected to his new property valuation of R3.6 million, which doubled from the R1.8m of the last roll.
His objection was upheld, meaning the city’s valuer agreed with him, and his value was reduced.
The matter then went on automatic review to the Valuations Appeal Board because the value had been reduced by more than 10 percent.
According to attorney Chantelle Gladwin, representing the resident, on review the board reinstated the original valuation without giving him any notice or opportunity to object or to be present at any hearing.
“This took place without the city ever having visited the property. The owner objected because his property was valued at much more than its true worth on the open market because the house was assumed to be of similar size and quality to others in the area.
“As it turns out, the house was smaller, older and of a much poorer quality and standard than the typical house in the area. The consumer submitted estate agent valuations to prove this, but these were ignored and the initial mass appraisal valuation reinstated,” she said.
She took the matter to the South Gauteng High Court in Joburg on review. The city argued that mass appraisals were reasonable, because the system was designed to be reasonable and should, therefore, be trusted to be right.
“The city’s argument was that it doesn’t matter whether it is correct or not, as long as the decision was reasonable,” she said…
South Africa Today – South Africa News
