The City's General Valuation Roll contains 776 786 entries

More than 21 000 objections to the valuations of properties were received by the City in 2008 and it expects the whole process to be finalised by the end of the month.

"We intend to finalise the objection process by the end of February, whereafter the last notifications [to property owners who objected] will be sent," confirms Piet Eloff, the acting valuations director.

Property owners who filed a formal objection will receive a notice of the municipal valuer's final valuation through registered mail, he adds.

The adjustment to the valuation will reflect on the property owner's statement within 45 days, depending on when the billing cycle starts and ends.

Appeal

A detailed, written explanation of the decision against an objection can be requested from the City's valuation services directorate at a cost of R350 per request. Once the written reasons have been sent to the objector, the person has 21 days in which to appeal.

The review of the valuation is based on the information on the objection form, the municipal valuer's information and additional market information. The municipal valuer's notice will detail the process to be followed by the objector to appeal the decision.

Objectors who are not satisfied within these processes may challenge the decision in a court of law. Should you require more information on the valuation appeals process you can contact the valuations department directly by telephone on 011..., or by fax on 011 403 4496, or send an email to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Sectional title

The individual billing process for sectional title properties has not been without hiccups, confirms Erika Naude, the director for rates and taxes. The City is struggling to obtain postal addresses for almost two thirds of sectional title owners.

"There are still about 99 000 addresses that have not been confirmed," she says.

In these cases, the City is sending out statements to the managing agent but, in many instances, these agents do not have the capacity to distribute the statements.

Naude has urged these owners to confirm their postal addresses through the City call centre, on 011..., or by email on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Billing

"Joburg Water has since confirmed that sewerage will be charged to the body corporate and not the individual units."

According to Naude all charges against individual units were reversed in the October 2008 billing cycle.

Refuse charges have also been contentious in some sectional title complexes.  "Legally, all property owners have to pay refuse charges to the City."

But some bodies corporate contracted private waste removal companies and have included refuse charges in the sectional title levy. As a result some sectional title properties have been paying double refuse charges. These properties have to take up the query with Pikitup directly, she says.

Refuse charges are now also calculated based on the value of the property and no longer on the erf size, as was the case in the past.