Relief as Joburg to increase schools' rates by 5%, not business classification rates

Hundreds of schools across Johannesburg can breathe easy again after being hit with hefty rates bills for July – thanks to the City of Johannesburg’s offer to recalculate their bills to a standard 5% across the board.

At the end of July 741 private schools and 921 public schools were sent reeling as the new financial year saw the amended Municipal Property Rates Act come into effect. The new law saw the scrapping of the education classification that applied to schools, charging them as public benefit organisations and reclassifying them as businesses.

The result was that public schools were hit with rates bills about six times higher than their June bills, and private schools billed at 10 times their previous rate.

The city is introducing a temporary one-year solution in the form of a 5% increase for all schools while they renegotiate the change in law with the department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) to align the amendments with rates increases that are both fair and “will not unduly penalise ratepayers or place the city on the wrong side of the law or anuditor-general”.

Speaking at a briefing where the solution was announced and explained, Joburg’s executive mayor Mpho Phalatse said the city had been overwhelmed by queries, complaints and lawsuits against them after the implementation of the massive rate hikes in July.

“The mayoral committee and city, particularly the MMC for finance and the revenue department as well as the department of legal and contracts, have been working around the clock to find a workable solution,” she said.

Phalatse said while she and her team were compelled to comply with the amended legislation, they would ensure Joburg remains a caring and business-friendly city, and were committed to offering a solution “that creates a win-win for all in the short term while we address a long-term strategy”.

In terms of the temporary solution, all Joburg schools previously categorised as education facilities will, as of July 1, have their rates increased by up to 5%, equal to the general rate increase and in line with inflation.

She said her administration had been in charge for only nine months and had inherited a city with a large amount of broken, poorly maintained and non-functioning infrastructure all in need of attention.

“My commitment to the residents of Joburg remains the same: we will take ownership, not because we created the mess, but because we care.”

She said city managers were meeting school bodies and those involved in legal action against them to settle the matter.

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