Withholding property rates and taxes due to no service delivery?

01 October 2020 2301

When local municipalities fail to provide the basic services to the community, aggrieved owners should not take the law into their own hands by withholding rates and taxes payment. They should instead approach a court of law who can provide them with the necessary relief.

Municipalities have a legal obligation to provide basic services to their residents in an adequate and timely fashion. The failure of municipalities to deliver basic services not only causes immense hardship to the residents of municipalities but can have a detrimental impact on the social and economic development of these municipal areas. The failure of municipalities to deliver basic services does not, however, warrant the withholding of taxes by communities.

If citizens are dissatisfied with the way in which matters are being handled by municipalities, they must use the available legal channels to enforce their rights, withholding payments is unlawful and unjustifiable.

The fact is that an amount which is due to a democratically elected government body has not been paid at the appropriate time, and such action cannot be justified. If rates withholding continues, municipalities are entitled to take measures to enforce payment. The question is whether municipalities may, for example, disconnect electricity supply in response to arrears on property rates accounts, especially where electricity accounts are not in arrears. The Systems Act makes provision for municipalities to consolidate municipal accounts and suspend any service by a municipality as a means of enforcing the payment of any unsettled account. This mechanism can, however, only be used when a municipality has a credit control and debt collection policy which provides for this form of debt collection and which has been duly enacted in a by-law. Municipalities therefore may, for instance, discontinue the electricity supply to those who insist on withholding property rates.

Going forward, the preferred way of settling this dispute is to open channels of communication and engage constructively. Provincial governments need to play a particularly important role in brokering a settlement. And most importantly, owners should not withhold payments as that could lead to the Municipality instituting civil action against them.

For any questions or uncertainties in this regard, contact our firm today!

Share: