Commercial properties in Dublin are to be revalued as part of a scheme aimed at bringing more fairness and transparency into the local authority rating system.
The last such valuation in Ireland took place between 1852 and 1865 and since then, property values have changed considerably, said Declan Lavelle, of the Valuation Office.
More recently, commercial rates have been calculated based on a property's 1988 rental value.
The switch to the new valuations will enable a much closer relationship between the current rental values of property and their commercial rates liability, said Mr Lavelle.
"This is about updating the valuations, not about raising more money for local authorities," he said, adding that the amount of money received by each authority will not change. "It is the way the rates are distributed that will change, not the total amount being raised," he said.
The scheme, which started in the South Dublin County Council area yesterday, will be rolled out across the whole of the Republic in due course.
The deadline for the South Dublin area project is December 2007.
Under the new legislation, which came into force in 2002, individual ratepayers will be able to appeal their new valuation at three different stages, right up to the High Court if so desired.
The Chambers of Commerce of Ireland said it was concerned that if the amount of money local authorities can claim through rates is capped they may be tempted to create more stealth taxes to increase their budgets.
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