Property Valuations in Camps Bay as per CCT General Valuations GV2018

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Property Valuations in Camps Bay as per CCT General Valuations GV2018

The CBCRA has had extensive talks with Mayor Dan Plato and deputy Mayor Ian Neilson (in his capacity as Mayco Member for Finance) over the past few weeks to better understand the new valuations and express the community’s outrage at the high increases in valuations along the Atlantic Seaboard.

We have also met with other ratepayer associations in the area to discuss the new valuations’ impact.

The City is certainly not willing to budge on its system and defends it to the end!

When the City first bought and implemented the current computer assisted mass appraisal system over a decade ago, the CBCRA and others conducted a comprehensive study of its correctness, by comparing a vast number of sales against valuations (at that specific time).

It became quite clear that the valuation system was questionable.

At the time, the City rejected the findings and there was no financial backing to challenge the City’s system legally.

In 2019 the City has produced the GV2018. This is the valuation of your property as at 02 July 2018, as assessed by the City.

There are a few important points to note:

• The state of the market currently is not at issue – only the value as at 02 July 2018.   
• It could be argued that this reflects the highest that the market has ever been – 2016 & 2017 having seen sizeable increases in property values, with a large correction in 2018 and 2019. In other words, an unfair time to do a new property valuation.
• The City argues that it attempts to value all properties every 3 years and that the last time was 3 years ago, GV2015. Although this point is probably valid on the face of it – a more “Caring City” would have possibly have conducted its property valuation at a more representative time, as it was clear from early 2018 that the market was weakening.
• The percentage increase in the value of a property will not be the direct increase in the rates levied by the City. The “cent in the rand” used to establish actual rates has been decreased by about 22% plus a few other factors. Broadly speaking, if your valuation has not increased by more than 25 – 30%, you should not experience a rates increase.
• 25% of the City’s budget is raised from rates.

The City have made it very clear that it will only deal with individual objections, as per legislation, and that it stands by its valuation system and results.

The CBCRA therefore recommends that every property owner, who is dissatisfied with his/her valuation, submits an objection to the City electronically (the date for manual submission of property valuation objection has past).

Please note that you should require reasons from the valuator for the valuation of your property.

Please also note that should the City disagree with you and, upon physical inspection of the subject property, assess the value to be higher, then it might increase the value. So be careful!

The City use 20 attributes to value your property (see Table 1 below), which is only for residential properties and does not include sectional title not business properties.

How many of these attributes are assessed seems to be a mystery in cases where no physical inspection has been made…. however, use them as you see fit.

The City also refuse to consider comparative valuations in an area, which the CBCRA has raised as a serious flaw in the system. It is recommended that you use such values, regardless of the City’s refusal.

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The CBCRA will attempt to help individuals with objections. Contact the CBCRA on campsbayratepayers@gmail.com

All objections are assessed by the City Valuers and there is no political aspect to this process. If you are dissatisfied with this assessment, then an appeal to the Provincial Appeal Authority is the final step in the process.

An overview of the “results” of the GV2018 are shown below, in Table 2. It is clear that 26% of ratepayers in the City are going to shoulder the burden of the City’s budgetary requirements – and that a disproportionate percentage of that group are from the Atlantic Seaboard.

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Table 2

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The CBCRA will continue to monitor the situation and take issue with the City if there are provable systemic problems.

Chris Willemse
Chair
CBCRA