Immovable property owners in the Cape Coast Metropolis have been urged to visit the assembly to pay their property rates as required by law based on the annual rateable value of the said property.
According to the Assembly, before such rates are paid, owners must ensure that their properties are valued.
Speaking on the ATLANTIC WAVE, Mr. Emmanuel Dowuna the acting Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly Valuation Officer indicated that having knowledge about property valuation is a great advantage even to the property owner.
He however noted that if a property is valued in a specific year and has not been sold or rented in that year, that property must be re-valued for the greater good of the possessor.
” Sometimes when we value, people will say the property was put up in 1960, but that’s not what we are looking at. We are looking at the present-day value. When you go to the local governance Act that is what has been stated. So, we work according to what the law says.
A property may be at ATL, a university campus; the law says that once it has been valued, the same property when it’s even at ‘Anafo’ commands the same value for the sake of the law. So, it is a law that we are interpreting. But when you want to value and sell a property on campus, the value may differ from a property at ‘Anafo.’ But when it comes to the rate allotment, then the assembly would decide on whether; this is a first-class area, this is a second-class area, or this is a third-class area, for the qualities of taxes”
Mr. Dowuna stated that the owner of the structure, the structure itself, materials used in the construction of the structure among others are part of several factors that are taken into consideration in valuing a property.
On his part, Metro Budget Analyst, John Kofi Taylor stated that payment of the property rate is based on the assembly’s rate impost.
He explained that for instance, if a property is valued at GHc 200,000, the assembly’s current multiplier will determine how much one has to pay.
“So, it stands now, most of our rates are 0.007 or five. So, if you have your property valued at GHc 200,000, then we take the 0.005, we multiply by the 200,000, 5 to 10 so that you pay about GHc1000” he said.
According to the assembly, payment of property rates also helps to ensure the sustainable development of the nation as such property owners should play their role of paying such rates to the assembly for the benefit of the country.
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Source: Enock Chanimbe/ATLFMNEWS
