Municipalities need a reliable source of revenue to provide basic services and perform their functions. Property rates are the most important source of general revenue for municipalities, especially in developed areas. Revenue from property rates is used to fund services that benefit the community as a whole as opposed to individual households. These include installing and maintaining streets, roads, sidewalks, lighting, and storm drainage facilities; and building and operating clinics, parks, recreational facilities and cemeteries. Property rates revenue is also used to fund municipal administration, such as computer equipment and stationery, and costs of governance, such as council and community meetings, which facilitate community participation on issues of Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and municipal budgets.
Municipal property rates are set, collected, and used locally. National and provincial governments do not have the power to levy rates, nor do they share in the revenue collected. Revenue from property rates is spent within a municipality, where the citizens and voters have a voice in decisions on how the revenue is spent as part of the Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and budget processes, which municipalities invite communities to input prior municipal council adoption of the budget.
