THE Hwange Local Board (HLB) failed to bill some of its properties for the past two decades as it did not have a valuation roll, losing potential revenues running into millions of United States dollars.
The HLB could not truly ascertain the value of properties in its area for billing purposes as it last carried out a general valuation roll more than 20 years ago.
A general valuation roll is a list or register of properties situated within the boundaries of a given local authority compiled for billing purposes.
The lifespan of a valuation roll is between three to 10 years.
However, the period can be extended by a further five years subject to ministerial consent by a statutory instrument.
All properties within a council jurisdiction are rateable except property owned by the State, council and properties exempt from paying rates under section 270 of the Urban Councils Act.
HLB finance director Wetani Munkuli said the council is now able to bill its properties now that a valuation roll is in place.
“The Act requires that we establish the minimum unit, which is the smallest or average minimum size of a stand in our locality or in each rating zone,” Munkuli said.
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“That unit is clearly stated out in the valuation roll for each rating zone. So, for HLB, the smallest unit is 200 square metres of land for our residential properties.
“As a result, whatever rate we charge for a 200 square metre property must relate proportionally with the other bigger sizes of land.”
Prior to carrying out a general valuation roll, council had set a cap for charging property tax for residential properties.
Failure by council to prove how it charged its ratepayers was one of the reasons that led to the rejection of its 2024 budget.
“There is no way we can charge uniform rates for different properties because even on a layout plan, the properties are of different sizes,” Munkuli said.
“In addition, the improvements on each property are different. Whatever we are going to resolve even after the (2025) budget consultations, we need to maintain that progression, so that whoever checks our budget can prove that.”
Munkuli said having a valuation roll has enabled the HLB to come up with realistic ratings for properties in its jurisdiction.
The Urban Councils Act Chapter 29:15 provides for the creation of valuation offices by councils.
Previous government audit reports of local authorities have shown that a number of councils were losing potential revenue amounting to millions by operating without valuation rolls, and, or lack of title deeds to their properties.
