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City landlords to appear in court over property tax
What you need to know:
- Currently, property rates in respect of properties located in the city are computed at a rate of six per cent of the ratable value of the property and are payable once in a financial year.
- In the first valuation exercise for central division which commenced last year, a total of 15,000 properties were assessed.
KAMPALA. A total of 171 landlords from Kampala central division who have objections against the supplementary valuation of their properties will appear before the valuation court to make their case before the final rates are signed.
The valuation exercise, which is currently being carried out by Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) directorate of revenue collection, will cover all the five divisions of Kampala to determine property tax.
According to the list from the directorate, the landlords will appear before the court in four batches, starting today until May 4. The court is presided over by Mr Asuman Basalirwa, a lawyer.
Mr Fred Andema, the KCCA director of revenue collection, told Daily Monitor in an interview last week that the valuation is carried out to determine the rates of the properties which were either under construction or renovation during the first valuation.
Legal process
“The law provides for supplementary evaluation, which is the addendum of the first valuation, where a cause list with the landlords’ complaints is compiled for court hearing and a decision is then taken by court,” Mr Andema said.
Property tax is the levy on any property that exists within the jurisdiction of the city.
According to the Act, every property owner is required to pay six per cent of the money they collect from the building after expenses on bills such as water, electricity and wages.
Currently, property rates in respect of properties located in the city are computed at a rate of six per cent of the ratable value of the property and are payable once in a financial year.
In the first valuation exercise for central division which commenced last year, a total of 15,000 properties were assessed.
However, 19,000 properties were not valued by then because their data weren’t available.
The city authority expects to collect Shs22b from properties in the central division after valuation of all the properties.
