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Catchment Boards.—Members may be paid actual reasonable expenses for attendance at meetings of Boards, or travelling on business of Board, plus 255. per day and mileage at from sd. to 6jd. (depending on horse-power of vehicle), plus garaging at not more than 2s. 6d. per day( 1 ). Minor Boards. —Members of Rabbit, Fire, and Local Railways Boards may be paid actual travelling-expenses in attending meetings or when travelling on the Board's business( 2 ). Members of Drainage and River Boards may be paid travelling-expenses when required to travel five miles or more (one way) to meetings (not committee meetings) or on the business of the Board( 3 ). Members of Water-supply Boards may be paid actual expenses by road and rail to Board meetings where members reside more than three miles from place of meeting, but not exceeding £15 per annum to a member, or £25 per annum to Chairman. The Chairman may also receive payment for travelling on Board business, subject to the above limit for total expenses.( 4 ) Although Education and similar Boards do not come within our terms of reference, it is interesting to note that Education Board members receive actual travelling-expenses, plus £1 2s. 6d. per day, plus Bd. per mile for a private car, plus 2s. 6d. garaging fee. Members of Secondary School and technical School Boards receive only actual reasonable expenses( 5 ). It is clear that there is a definite need for uniformity in the scale of travelling-allowances. The amounts vary from— (a) Actual and reasonable travelling-expenses, to (b) Actual and reasonable transport expenses, plus travelling-allowances varying from £1 to £1 ss. per day, plus mileage-allowances varying from sd. to Bd. per mile, plus garaging expenses varying from 2s. 6d. to ss. per day. CHAPTER VI.—FINANCE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT A. GENERAL SURVEY OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE STRUCTURE OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES Local authorities, as subordinate legislative bodies, derive all their powers from some enabling statute or statutes of the central Legislature. The allotment of powers or responsibilities implies that the finance for the carrying-out of those functions will be available to the local authority. Only the State, through Parliament, has a general taxing-power, and it may, and does, delegate to local authorities specific and well-defined powers to raise revenue. A local authority is defined in the Local Bodies' Finance Act, 1921-22, as including, besides the usually accepted local authorities, " the governing authority of any district constituted under any Act heretofore passed or hereafter to be passed, and having a revenue derivable wholly or in part from rates or dues."( (> ) Under the Local Bodies' Loans Act, 1926, a local authority is defined as " the Council, Board, or other statutory governing authority of a district as herein defined, having power to make and levy rates in such district(')." This definition is extended in the Local Government Loans Board Act, 1926, to include ad hoc Boards and " such other local bodies as are from time to time declared by the Governor-General by Order in Council to be local authorities for the purposes of this Act." ( 8 ) By the Acts Interpretation Act, 1924,( s ) local authority is defined as " any Council, Board, Trustees, Commissioners, or other persons by whatever name designated, entrusted under any Act with the administration of the local affairs of any city, town, place, borough, county, or district, and having power to make and levy rates." Local authorities in general are not given a blanket authority to tax. For instance, Borough Councils may tax only to the extent necessary to raise the money required to meet proposed and authorized outgoings after taking into account sums already available( 10 ). Apart from licenses and fees, which are discussed later, and which are of little relative importance, the major taxing-power of a local authority is the power to levy a rate. A rate is a tax assessed on land, usually, but not necessarily, on the value of the land. In rabbit districts, for instance, the rate may be on the number of stock carried, or the acreage of the land, or on the value of the land("). Local authorities also derive revenue from the public utility services or trading undertakings, such as gas and electricity distribution, transport services, libraries, waterworks, and a number of other services. A further source of revenue is from licenses which local authorities are authorized to collect. A charge for a license is in the nature of a tax for permission to engage in a particular activity. Such charges are payable from publicans' and accommodation licenses, heavy traffic fees, motor-drivers' licenses, auctioneers' and hawkers' licenses, slaughtering licenses, dangerous goods licenses, billiardrooms, dog registration, and several others( 12 ). The amount of these licenses is usually fixed by statute or by-laws. Another source of revenue is from fees for work done, such as building permits and drainage service. The amount of the fee as fixed by by-laws may vary with the amount of work done, or may be a flat charge.

( J ) Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act, 1941, section 8, and Regulations Serial 1944/156. ( 2 ) Rabbit Nuisance Act, 1928, section 78 ; Eire Brigades Act, 1926, section 58; Local Railways Act, 1914, section 34, and regulations thereunder dated 12th September, 1921, and 24th January, 1922. ( 3 ) Land Drainage Amendment Act, 1920, section 4; River Boards Act, 1908, section 66; and River Boards Amendment Act, 1913, section 8. ( 4 ) Water-supply Act, 1908, section 70. ( 5 ) Education Act, 1914, sections 31 and 93 ; Education Amendment Act, 1920, section 3 ; Education Amendment Act, 1926, section 14; Education Amendment Act, 1932-33, section 5, and Regulations Series 1944/167. ( 6 ) Local Bodies' Finance Act, 1921-22, section 2. ( 7 ) Local Bodies' Loans Act, 1926, section 2. ( 8 ) Local Government Loans Board Act, 1926, section 2. See also Education Reserves Act, 1928, section 20 (3) and Gazette, 1927, page 1514. ( 9 ) Section 4. ( 10 ) Municipal Corporations Act, 1933, section 79. (" ) Rabbit Nuisance Act, 1928, sections 65-66. ( la ) Some of these fees are collected by the State and remitted to local authorities, less collection charges.

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