The Property Rates Act: A Tool For Poverty Alleviation.

Property rates are an important source of revenue for municipalities and this is reflected in the preamble to the Property Rates Act of 2004.There is a need to provide local government with access to a sufficient and buoyant source of revenue necessary to fulfil its developmental objectives. At the same time, however, a municipality's financial health should not be attained at the unjustifiable expense of the poor within its area. The power to impose rates should take into account the imbalances of the past and the burden of rates on the poor.