Despite the controversy over the recent revaluation of land, Government has received a relatively low number of objections.

And, according to Land Valuation Officer Chris Farrow, many are asking for their ratings to be increased.

But many homeowners are primarily concerned with the tax implications the new assessments are likely to lead to. But Mr. Farrow pointed out that his office had no jurisdiction over this aspect.

"This department can however only deal with the ARV of the property and not the tax rates, discounts or pensioner relief,'' he said.

A total of 924 objections were received by the December 27 deadline. That figure represents almost three percent of the 31,004 units listed in Bermuda.

Mr. Farrow provided the following breakdown of those objections: 796 residential (2.89 percent of all residential); 128 non-residential (3.6 percent of all non-residential); 23 percent of the residential objections are from pensioners; and 70 percent of the total number of residential objections are for units with an annual rental value (ARV) above $30,000 ($2,500 per month), yet they only represent 18 percent of the total number of residential units.

Mr. Farrow noted: "This shows that the vast majority of residential objections are in the mid-to-high-end units.

"Interestingly, more than 35 percent of those objections to residential ARV's higher than $90,000 ($7,500 per month) are seeking increases in their assessments.'' He pointed out that many people decided not to object after their queries were dealt with by phone or over the counter in the Land Valuation Office.

"A large number decided not to object after the revaluation was explained to them,'' he said.

Three additional full-time staff have been taken on board to help process the objections. According to Mr. Farrow a valuer will first "visit the property to check that the physical details such as floor areas are correct''.

Next an appointment with the taxpayer "to carry out an internal inspection of the property and to hear the taxpayer's contentions'' will take place.

Then the officer will revalue the property and notify the taxpayer of the findings.

"This may result in an increase, decrease, or no change at all in the ARV,'' Mr. Farrow noted.

If the homeowner remains dissatisfied with the results, there is an opportunity to appeal to the Land Valuation Appeal Tribunal.

Irrespective of when an objection is dealt with, if any adjustments to the ARV are made, they will be backdated to July 1, 1999.

Mr. Farrow also noted: "Contrary to our experience at previous revaluations we have had compliments from a number of property professionals as to the accuracy of the new appraisals, which would explain the relatively low number of objections from them.'' CHART ARV OBJECTIONS Objections to last year's revaluation was actually relatively low. The following table details the number of objections Government has received since they took over assessments in 1967, from the parish vestries.

Year Units Objections Percent 1967 17,457 1,288 7.38 1972 19,100 1,744 9.13 1978 22,500 350 1.55 1982 23,984 1,957 8.16 1989 26,500 217 0.08 1999 31,004 924 2.98