IF you think your rates increase was excessive, spare a thought for a Uitenhage resident whose bill has increased by a whopping 1837960 per cent.

But this was all down to a past blunder. The property had been incorrectly valued and cost the owner just 10 cents a year in rates. The value is now put at R380000 and the owner will pay R1838,06 a year, or a fraction over R150 a month.

This is just one of the anomalies brought to light in the recent general valuation in Nelson Mandela Bay.

The second highest rates increase was 652900% for a property in KwaNobuhle that had also been incorrectly valued previously with rates of just 10 cents a year. Now valued at R150000, the new rates are R653 a year.

The owners of several other properties, incorrectly valued in the past, have also received hefty increases in percentage terms.

One in Motherwell, for example, was paying R2,05 a year, a figure that has been increased to R333,75 after the house was valued at R84000.

A number of houses in Greenbushes, Bethelsdorp and Parsonsvlei were also affected, the owners having been paying rates of between R1,64 and R11,29 a year because their properties were incorrectly valued on the previous roll.

source: The Herald Online, 14 August 2008