460
(4)
of
Municipal Revenue is revenue raised in a city or town for the purpose defraying the expenditure necessary for the proper and efficient administration of the city or town. It is levied on the inhabitants of the city or town, and no one who resides outside its limits is called upon to contribute. It differs in this from general revenue which is chargeable on all persons within the territory alike whether resident in or out of the town, and which is applicable for all purposes and not confined to purely local expenditure. As a general rule municipal revenue is collected and disbursed by a different authority from that which receives and expends the general revenue of a colony or a territory, but this fact is immaterial. The true criterion of a municipal tax is the limitation of the area within which it is collected and applied.
Although the City of Victoria has no municipal government, and although all taxes are levied and collected by the general Government of the Colony, there are nevertheless items of Revenue which are distinctly municipal within the above definition and not general. The assessed taxes (Police, Lighting, Fire Brigade, and Water Rates) afford a perfect illustration. Every house in the Colony pays 7 per cent. on the annual valuation towards the general expenses of the Colonial Government. Houses in the Hill District and part of Kowloon pay 102 per cent. Houses in the City of Victoria pay 13 per cent., which is apportioned as follows:- Police 83 per cent., Water 2 per cent., Lighting 1 per cent., and Fire Brigade 2 per cent.
The extra percentages are clearly Municipal Rates, just as much as if they were levied by and paid to separate municipalities. They are charged upon limited classes of persons, and for limited purposes, to defray expenditure wholly incurred within the localities named.
The revenues derived from the sale of night-soil under contracts for its removal from the City of Victoria constitute also a distinct item of municipal revenue. The proceeds are applied solely for the benefit of the city and of its inhabitants iu pro- viding for the cleansing of the streets and for the removal of rubbish and dirt having no money value to the collector of it.
The Eastern, Central, and Western Markets are within the city and are solely for the use of the city and its inhabitants. If a municipality were established here the markets would be handed over to it as undoubtedly municipal property. rents derived from the letting of stalls in these markets is therefore municipal not general revenue.
In like manner with other items. A careful examination of the Revenue Returns and of the Ordinances under the authority of which many items of revenue are raised will shew that they are only leviable within the City of Victoria and in so far are distinctly municipal and not general revenue and therefore not fairly, or in accordance with the principle applied in the Straits Settlements, chargeable in respect of the Military Contribution.
The fact of Hongkong not having a Municipal Council should not militate against the Colony being as fairly treated as we would be if we had one.
The Unofficial Members of Council desire further to call the attention of the Right Honourable the Secretary of State to one or two other points in connection with the Military Contribution which were overlooked in the discussions in Council on the subject, in view of the much greater importance of the question of Municipal Revenue, and which in their opinion afford just grounds for a reduction of the
amount:-
1. The 17 per cent. should be calculated on the General Revenue of the Colony, less the amount recently raised to defray the Military Contribution itself, otherwise the Colony is paying not only on its ordinary revenue but in addition on the amount of extra revenue specially raised to defray the Military Contribution itself.