The Makhado Municipality said that owners who cannot afford to pay the property rates in one large amount have to make arrangements with the municipality.

Since February, municipal accounts have come as a shock to many property owners. New property rates were implemented and the rates for the past seven to nine months are charged retrospectively in one large amount on the municipal account under the description DN Rates (Debit Note Rates). The municipality implemented the Property Rates retrospectively as from July 1 last year.

In April, owners of a residential property worth R450 000 will pay more or less an extra R2025 for the rates not charged for the past nine months. The owner of a house valued at R800 000 will pay an extra R3 600 and the owner of a residential property worth R1.5million will have a debit note of around R6 750. Business properties pay more tax. They pay .0075 cent in the rand as opposed to .005 cent of residential stands.

What is the municipality going to do in the case of owners who cannot afford to pay that large amount (DN Rates) all at once? The answer to this question came as a light in the tunnel. Makhado municipal spokesperson Mr Louis Bobodi, said that “Arrangements have to be made with the municipality”.

Some property owners received their debit notes in February, others in March or April, and no owner apparently received written notification of the market value of their property and the rates that will be payable.

Not one owner in the new town, east of the N1, has yet received their debit notes, according to Bobodi. The municipality is in the process of combining their water and electricity accounts with the property rates accounts.

Last week, an attorney, Mr André Naudé, said that it was unheard of in the law that rights can be taken away retrospectively.