By Tinaani Nyabereka
Gweru – City Council yesterday availed its valuation roll which, if adopted comes after 19 years having been operating without one since 2005.
The Valuation Roll is a record of property ownership compiled for collecting local taxation and the Gweru one was compiled by Runanga Properties which got the task to evaluate all council properties.
Gweru City Council has been operating without a valuation roll since 2005, a development which some residents felt was putting much pressure on them regarding bill and rates payments.
Speaking at the handover of the Roll on Monday at Council Offices, Gweru City Mayor Martin Chivhoko said the roll was compiled for rating purposes and was bound to undergo the remaining processes.
“I am highly honored to have everyone gathered here today for this propitious event in the history of the local authority. Valuation is an essential part of local government administration. The Urban Councils Act Chapter 29:15 provides the enabling legislature for the creation of the valuation office.
“The functions of the office include the valuation of all properties for rating purposes, Council properties for insurance, letting purposes, properties for sale including stands, estimation of building costs, conducting auctions on behalf of Council, conducting site inspections for compliance with respect to conditions and terms of sale of Council stands and private properties for acquisition.
“Today we are gathered here to witness the handing over of the general valuation roll from Runanga Properties. All properties within Council are ratable except property owned by the state, property owned by Council, and property exempt from paying rates under Section 270 of the Urban Councils Act,” said Chivhoko.
He said as council, they were keen to monitor and manage financial assessments and said the roll will help them achieve their 2030 vision of becoming a city of choice.
“As our vision is to be a “Sustainable prosperous city of choice by 2030”, we can only achieve this if we perform a valuation for the purposes of strategic planning, budgeting purposes and ensuring investments. We chose to do the valuation roll because it has a great impact on monitoring and management of financial assessment.
“Valuation helps investors identify potential risks associated with an investment opportunity, such as market volatility, economic downturns, and changes in industry trends.
“It also helps investors determine the potential returns of an investment opportunity, which is crucial in managing investment risk. In our case we have been calling for investors to come and invest in the city of Gweru in vain because we didn’t have a valuation roll,” he said.
Gweru District Development Coordinator (DDC), Tarisai Mudadigwa commended council for compiling a valuation roll saying councils cannot operate without one.
“As a local authority, you can’t work without a valuation roll. Let me thank you all as a council for considering this move to have the roll in place.
“Remember we were having challenges on the approval process of your budgets as the minister would then ask you for a valuation roll. There is need to have council properties rated so that we know how best you can enhance other areas of revenue generation.
“Let me thank Runanga Properties for the job well done and I hope you will stick around to see the completion of the whole process. We now awaits for adoption at the full council meeting, which will then be followed by public inspection,” he added.
