And also weighing in is the Director of Local Government. He is pulling no punches by calling out those persons who go to the media as a first resort. He says via zoom that there's an appeals process that can assist with complaints:
Clifford King, Director of Local Government
"Unfortunately, we live in a culture and a time where people tend to think that if I make noise in the public, that that will make the problem go away. And that's really unfortunate. There are what we call a valuation appeals board that addresses issues relating to appeals. But it means that you need to spend the effort to go through the process. It means that you have to spend the effort to engage with the local authority to understand why. I don't think that any, any local authority, any government in its right mind wants to arbitrarily charge people on due and unnecessary fees. If that turns out to be the case, you as the recipient need to know what your rights are and you need to exercise those rights. Go through the appeals process so that an independent group of persons could either uphold your appeal or deny your appeal."
