News / Local
BCC increase rates for building by 1000 percent
31 Jan 2012 at 04:59hrs | Views
THE Bulawayo City Council has reportedly increased rates for buildings in the city centre by up to 1000 percent.
The development has triggered huge rent increases that business people said would force them to close shop.
They called for an urgent downward review of the rates.
Property owners yesterday said they had no choice but to pass on the increase to their tenants, whom they said were already struggling to pay last year's rates.
Rates are charged as a fraction of the total value of the land on which buildings are situated.
The bulk of the increases are reflected as "rates business CBD land and improvements" on the water bills.
A majority of the property owners said their tenants paid rates and other bills separate from their rent.
The administrator of a property that is being rented by a funeral parlour yesterday came to the Chronicle offices with bills that revealed that rates had jumped from $121,50 in December last year to $1 982,91 in January.
A businessman whose property is being rented by a church in the city centre said he was shocked to get a bill showing that rates for the building had increased from $155 in December to $2 028,51 in January.
He said his tenants had already paid their rent for January and he was now faced with the "unpleasant task" of informing them to top up.
The owner of a block of residential flats in the city centre said he was stunned to get a bill showing that rates had increased to $501,58 from $41 last year.
A business woman who rents a property for $4 000 every month, said her landlord had informed her that the rent will increase by almost 100 percent because of a "shocking" increase in rates.
A comment could not be obtained from the local authority. Council's senior public relations officer Mrs Nesisa Mpofu had not responded to questions e-mailed to her in the morning, by the time of going to print.
The development has triggered huge rent increases that business people said would force them to close shop.
They called for an urgent downward review of the rates.
Property owners yesterday said they had no choice but to pass on the increase to their tenants, whom they said were already struggling to pay last year's rates.
Rates are charged as a fraction of the total value of the land on which buildings are situated.
The bulk of the increases are reflected as "rates business CBD land and improvements" on the water bills.
A majority of the property owners said their tenants paid rates and other bills separate from their rent.
The administrator of a property that is being rented by a funeral parlour yesterday came to the Chronicle offices with bills that revealed that rates had jumped from $121,50 in December last year to $1 982,91 in January.
A businessman whose property is being rented by a church in the city centre said he was shocked to get a bill showing that rates for the building had increased from $155 in December to $2 028,51 in January.
He said his tenants had already paid their rent for January and he was now faced with the "unpleasant task" of informing them to top up.
The owner of a block of residential flats in the city centre said he was stunned to get a bill showing that rates had increased to $501,58 from $41 last year.
A business woman who rents a property for $4 000 every month, said her landlord had informed her that the rent will increase by almost 100 percent because of a "shocking" increase in rates.
A comment could not be obtained from the local authority. Council's senior public relations officer Mrs Nesisa Mpofu had not responded to questions e-mailed to her in the morning, by the time of going to print.
Source - TC
