BCC seeks valuation roll extension

By The NewsDay | May. 27, 2022 | 2 Min read

Valuation of property enables the local authority to know the total value of properties in its jurisdiction for revenue collection purposes. It also assists the local authority to craft developmental strategies.

By SILAS NKALA THE City Council (BCC) has asked for more time to evaluate its properties after it missed government’s December 21, 2021, deadline.

Latest council minutes on the re-valuation strategy state that: “The valuation roll deadline had expired on December 31, 2021 and ministerial extension was still being awaited.

“New strategies were being proposed such as outsourcing a portion of the properties, and outsourcing the revaluation of the central business district (CBD) by hiring a company(ies) to do the re-valuation of the CBD properties.”

It means BCC has to advertise and contract a company to re-valuate about 1 450 CBD properties (excluding CBD residential areas), a process that takes nearly 12 months.

“This strategy is likely to take less time and consume less council resources. Some of the preliminary works such as survey and obtaining market information would be done using internal resources, leaving the contractor to do the valuation analysis and valuations only, the minutes added.

Council also suggested the use of own resources to evaluate industrial, residential and a portion of commercial properties outside the CBD, an option which required council to purchase a valuation computer system to capture all the property data.

Outsourcing of valuation is pegged at US$1 million with CBD valuation alone pegged at US$400 000. The in-house valuation cost for other properties is estimated at upwards of US$60 000.