The upturn in the property market and the municipal clean up in Durban has prompted significant re-investment by property owners in downtown buildings.

At least 40 major buildings of a total of 90 identified by iTrump, have recently been repainted.

iTrump is the inner Thekwini Regeneration and Urban Management Programme and, with a budget this year of R9 million, has planted trees, put up new street signs, fixed public toilets and generally cleaned up the city.

The reaction from property owners and property-related companies led to a decision by the city council to declare an iTrump tax zone. What this does is channel Durban's share of the R1.3 billion in tax relief announced by Finance minister Trevor Manuel, to the inner city.

In terms of Manuel's Urban Development Zone Tax initiative, property owners in the city will receive a 100% rebate for refurbishment of existing buildings, over a five-year period.

Taxpayers will receive a 17-year write off for the construction of new buildings in the city: or 20 percent of the cost of a new building in the first year and 5 percent for the remaining 16 years.

According to iTrump's Julie Ellingson, the initiative will offer about R60 million of tax revenue foregone in 2003/4, rising to R400 millionin subsequent years and involving R1.3 billion over four years.

Ellingson says downtown Durban is a vital cog in the regional economy and contributes 27 percent to the city's gross geographic product.

In the 2000/01 financial year, rates income contributed to 25 percent of the municipal budget and the inner city, with no industrial area, contributed half of that, or R189 million in rates income.

About 123 000 people work in the CBD, 12 000 of them in the informal sector.

According to Ellingson, while there have been some delays in finalising the necessary legislation, it is expected that property owners will be able to apply for the tax incentives from early next year.

For further inquiries about the initiative, call Ellingson at 031 202 5785. - The Mercury