Confusion over BCC rates hike

The local authority increased rates by up to 1 000 percent for properties in the city in January.
Following an outcry by businesspeople who said they could not afford the new rates, council suspended the increases for commercial and industrial properties last week and urged consumers to pay the old rates until the new ones have been finalised.
In an interview on Tuesday, council’s senior public relations officer, Mrs Nesisa Mpofu, said the suspension of the new rates did not apply to low-density residential areas.
“Very soon, we shall have a consultative stakeholders’ meeting to clear the air on the rates. I do not know where the residents who say they were also exempted got their information. Council realises the importance of working with businesses on the issue because it is part of our main objectives to assist companies and industries in the city to recover from the economic drawback of recent years,” said Mrs Mpofu.
She said some of the items on the agenda of the forthcoming meeting would be to explain to commercial and industrial ratepayers how the new rating system works and to agree to an optimum figure that would enable council to continue providing quality services without compromising the viability of businesses.
“We are inviting the business community to attend so that we avoid the inconvenience of working on the same issue for a long time,” she said.
The rates increases were effected as per the 2012 budget.
Last week, Mrs Mpofu said it was disappointing to note that the business community often stayed away from stakeholders’ meetings and only realised the impact of decisions made in their absence when their livelihood was threatened. She said the valuation roll that was being used to arrive at the rates was drafted last year.
Mrs Mpofu said most stakeholders did not attend a meeting in which the effect of the valuation role was explained.
She said the mayor, Councillor Thaba Moyo, finally signed the valuation roll on 5 October last year, adding that there was not even a single objection from the affected people whose views were continually sought throughout the process.
The Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce’s Bulawayo chairperson, Mrs Ntombenhle Moyo, acknowledged that council had made an effort to liaise with stakeholders when the rates were finalised.
She said a consultative meeting held at the Small City Hall had been so poorly advertised that few people attended.
Mrs Moyo said council should be more vigorous in its approach to engage stakeholders in future.