ARCHIVES: OPINIONISTA: Relooking at city improvement districts as a key way to revitalise Johannesburg
The City of Johannesburg has undergone many changes over the past decades, evolving from a mining centre and industrial city to a metropolitan centre largely characterised by financial and business services.
With city services and infrastructure stretched to the limit, property owners realised the need to mobilise local resources to supplement municipal services. City improvement districts were therefore seen as an innovative solution to boost and foster economic development in these areas. To begin with, all issues that may be negatively affecting the area are investigated and dealt with on an integrated and holistic basis.
Initially, all city improvement districts in the province were regulated by the Gauteng City Improvement Districts Act of 1997 , which was enacted by the province to facilitate the establishment of these districts. While the act still exists, the constitutionality of this legislation has been questioned by the Supreme Court of Appeal with regards to whether it is possible to lawfully validate the imposition of levies under the act.
According to a 2016 report sponsored by the City Improvement District Forum on city improvement districts in Johannesburg, the districts collected an estimated R91-million in levies from property owners annually for the provision of supplementary services to the public space. The majority of city improvement district expenditure was dedicated to supplementary public space safety, cleaning and maintenance.
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