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Public Health Act 1875

Status:

This is the original version (as it was originally enacted).

PART VIRATING AND BORROWING POWERS, &C.

EXPENSES OF URBAN AUTHORITY AND URBAN RATES.

207Mode of defraying expenses of urban authority.

All expenses incurred or payable by an urban authority in the execution of this Act, and not otherwise provided for, shall be charged on and defrayed out of the district fund and general district rate leviable by them under this Act, subject to the following exceptions ; (namely,)

  • That if in any district the expenses incurred by an urban authority (being the council of a borough) in the execution of the Sanitary Acts were at the time of the passing of this Act payable out of the borough fund or borough rate, then the expenses incurred by that authority in the execution of this Act shall be charged on and defrayed out of the borough fund or borough rate ; and

  • That if in any district the expenses incurred by an urban authority (being improvement commissioners) in the execution of the Sanitary Acts were at the time of the passing of this Act payable out of any rate in the nature of a general district rate leviable by them as such commissioners throughout the whole of their district, then the expenses incurred by that authority in the execution of this Act shall be charged on and defrayed out of such rate ; and for the purposes of this section the council of the borough of Folkestone shall be deemed to be improvement commissioners ; and

  • That where at the time of the passing of this Act the expense s incurred by an urban authority in the execution of certain purposes of the sanitary Acts were payable out of the borough fund and borough rate, and the expenses incurred by such authority in the execution of the other purposes of the said Acts were payable out of a rate or rates leviable by that authority throughout the whole of their district for paving sewering or other sanitary purposes, then the expenses incurred by that authority in the execution of the same or similar purposes respectively under this Act shall respectively be charged on and defrayed oht of the borough fund and borough rate, and out of the rate or rates leviable as aforesaid.

208Power in certain cases by provisional order to alter mode.

Where at the time of the passing of this Act the expenses incurred by an urban authority for sanitary purposes are payable otherwise than in the manner provided by the Local Government Acts, the Local Government Board may, on the application of such authority, or of any ten persons rated to the relief of the poor within the district, declare by provisional order that the expenses of such authority incurred in the execution of this Act shall be defrayed out of a district fund and general district rate to be levied by them under this Act, subject to the provisions of this Act with respect to the mode of defraying in certain cases the expenses of the repair of highways.

General District Rate.

209District fund account.

In the district of every urban authority whose expenses under this Act are directed to be defrayed out of the district fund and general district rate there shall be continued or established a fund called the district fund: a separate account called "the district fund account" of all moneys carried under this Act to the account of that fund shall be kept by the treasurer of the urban authority ; and such moneys shall be applied by the urban authority in defraying such of the expenses chargeable thereon under this Act as they may think proper.

210Making general district rate.

For the purpose of defraying any expenses chargeable on the district fund which that fund is insufficient to meet, the urban authority shall from time to time, as occasion may require, make by writing under their common seal, and levy in addition to any other rate leviable by them under this Act, a rate or rates to be called " general district rates."

Any such rate may be made and levied either prospectively in order to raise money for the payment of future charges and expenses, or retrospectively in order to raise money for the payment of charges and expenses incurred at any time within six months before the making of the rate in calculating the period of six months during which the rate may be made retrospectively, the time during which any appeal or other proceeding relating to such rate is pending shall be excluded.

Public notice of intention to make any such rate, and of the time when it is intended to make the same, and of the place where a statement of the proposed rate is deposited for inspection, shall be given by the urban authority in the week immediately before the day on which the rate is intended to be made, and at least seven days previously thereto ; but in, case of proceedings to levy or recover any rate it shall not be necessary to prove that such notice was given.

211Assessment, &c. of general district rate.

With respect to the assessment and levying of general district rates under this Act the following provisions shall have effect; (namely,)

(1)General district rates shall be made and levied on the occupier of all kinds of property for the time being by law assessable to any rate for the relief of the poor, and shall be assessed on the full net annual value of such property, ascertained by the valuation list for the time being in force, or, if there is none, by the rate for the relief of the poor made next before the making of the assessment under this Act, subject to the following exceptions regulations and conditions ; (namely,)

(a)The owner, instead of the occupier, may at the option of the urban authority be rated in cases—

  • Where the rateable value of any premises liable to assessment under this Act does not exceed the sum of ten pounds ; or

  • Where any premises so liable are let to weekly or monthly tenants ; or

  • Where any premises so liable are let in separate apartments, or where the rents become payable or are collected at any shorter period than quarterly :

Provided that in cases where the owner is rated instead of the occupier he shall be assessed on such reduced estimate as the urban authority deemed reasonable of the net annual value, not being less than two thirds nor more than four fifths of the net annual value; and where such reduced estimate is in respect of tenements whether occupied or unoccupied, then such assessment may be made on one half of the amount at which such tenements would be liable to be rated if the same were occupied and the rate were levied on the occupiers :

(b)The owner of any tithes, or of any tithe commutation rentcharge, or the occupier of any land used as arable meadow or pasture ground only, or as woodlands market gardens or nursery grounds, and the occupier of any land covered with water, or used only as a canal or towing-path for the same, or as a railway constructed under the powers of any Act of Parliament for public conveyance, shall be assessed in respect of the same in the proportion of one fourth part only of such net annual value thereof :

(c)If within any urban district or part of such district any kind of property is exempted from rating by any local Act in respect of all or any of the purposes for which general district rates may be made under this Act, the same kind of property shall, in respect of the same purposes, and to the same extent within the parts to which the exemption applies (but not further or otherwise), be exempt from assessment to any general district rates under this Act unless the Local Government Board by provisional order otherwise direct.

(2)If at the time of making any general district rate any premises in respect of which the rate may be made are unoccupied, such premises shall be included in the rate, but the rate shall not be charged on any person in respect of the same while they continue to be unoccupied ; and if any such premises are afterwards occupied during any part of the period for which the rate was made and before the same has been fully paid, the name of the incoming tenant shall be inserted in the rate, and thereupon so much of the rate as at the commencement of his tenancy may be in proportion to the remainder of the said period shall be collected recovered and paid in the same manner in all respects as if the premises had been occupied at the time when the rate was made :

(3)If any owner or occupier assessed or liable to any such rate ceases to be owner or occupier of the premises in respect whereof he is so assessed or liable, before the end of the period for which the rate was made, and before the same is fully paid off, he shall be liable to pay only such part of the rate as may be in proportion to the time during which he continues to be such owner or occupier; and in every such case if any person afterwards become owner or occupier of the premises during part of the said period, he shall pay such part of the rate as may be in proportion to the time during which he continues to be such owner or occupier, and the same shall be recovered from him in the same manner as if he had been originally assessed or liable :

(4)The urban authority may divide their district or any street therein into parts for all or any of the purposes of this Act, and from time to time abolish or alter any such divisions, and may make a separate assessment on any such part for all or any of the purposes for which the same is formed; and every such part, so far as relates to the purposes in respect of which such separate assessment is made, shall be exempt from any other assessment under this Act: Provided that if any expenses are incurred or to be incurred in respect of two or more parts in common the same shall be apportioned between them in a fair and equitable manner.

212Inspection of poor rate books for purposes of assessment.

For the purpose of assessing general district rates any person appointed by the urban authority may inspect take copies of or make extracts from, any valuation list or rate for the relief of the poor within the district, or any book relating to the

Any officer having the custody of any such rate or book who refuses to permit such inspection, or the taking of such copies or extract, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds.

Private Improvement Rate.

213Power to make private improvement rates.

Whenever an urban authority have incurred or become liable to any expenses which by this Act are or by such authority may be declared to be private improvement expenses, such authority may, if they think fit, make and levy on the occupier of the premises in respect of which the expenses have been incurred, in addition to all other rates, a rate or rates to be called private improvement rates, of such amount as will be sufficient to discharge such expenses, together with interest thereon at a rate not exceeding five pounds per centum per annum, in such period not exceeding thirty years as the urban authority may in each case determine.

Provided that whenever any premises in respect of which any private improvement rate is made become unoccupied before the expiration of the period for which the rate was made, or before the same is fully paid off, such rate shall become a charge on and be paid by the owner for the time being of the premises so long as the same continue to be unoccupied.

214Proportion of private improvement rate may be deducted from rent.

Where the occupier by whom any private improvement rate is paid holds the premises in respect of which the rate is made at a rent not less than the rackrent, he shall be entitled to deduct three fourths of the amount paid by him on account of such rate from the rent payable by him to his landlord, and if he hold at a rent less than the rackrent he shall he entitled to deduct from the rent so payable by him such proportion of three fourths of the rate as his rent bears to the rackrent; and if the landlord from whose rent any deduction is so made is himself liable to the payment of rent for the premises in respect of which the deduction is made,' and holds the same for a term of which less than twenty years is unexpired (but not otherwise), he may deduct from the rent so payable by him such proportion of the sum deducted from the rent payable to him as the rent payable by him bears to the rent payable to him, and so in succession with respect to every landlord (holding for a term of which less than twenty years is unexpired) of the same , premises both receiving and liable to pay rent in respect

Provided that nothing in this section shall be construed to entitle any person to deduct from the rent payable by him more than the whole sum deducted from the rent payable to him.

215Redemption of private improvement rates.

At any time before the expiration of the period for which any private improvement rate is made, the owner or occupier of the premises assessed thereto may redeem the same, by paying to the urban authority the expenses in respect of which the rate was made, or such part thereof as may not have been defrayed by sums already levied in respect of the same :

Provided that money paid in redemption of any private improvement rate shall not be applied by the urban authority otherwise than in defraying expenses incurred by them in works of private improvement or in discharging the principal of any moneys borrowed by them to meet those expenses, whether by means of a sinking fund or otherwise.

Highway Rate.

216Costs of repairs of highways.

In any urban district where the expenses under this Act of the urban authority are charged on and defrayed out of the district fund and general district rates, and no other mode of providing for repair of highways is directed by any local Act, the cost of repair of highways shall be defrayed as follows ; (that is to say,)

(1)Where the whole of the district is rated for works of paving water supply and sewerage, or for works for such of these purposes as are provided for in the district, the cost of repair of highways shall be defrayed out of the general district rate:

(2)Where parts of the district are not rated for works of paving water supply and sewerage, or for such of these purposes as are provided for in the district, the cost of repair of highways in those parts shall be defrayed out of a highway rate to be separately assessed and levied in those parts by the urban authority as surveyor of highways, and the cost of such repair in the residue of the district shall be defrayed out of the general district rate :

(3)Where no public works of paving water supply and sewerage are established in the district, the cost of repair of highways in the district shall be defrayed out of a highway rate, to be levied throughout the whole district by the urban authority as surveyor of highways :

Provided that where part of a parish is included within an urban district, and the excluded part was, before the constitution of that district, liable to contribute to the highway rates for such parish, such excluded part shall (unless in the case of an urban district constituted before the passing of this Act a resolution deciding that such excluded part should be formed into a separate highway district has been passed in pursuance of the Local Government Act 1858 Amendment Act 1861), or unless such excluded part has been included in a highway district under the Highway Acts, for all purposes connected with the repairs of highways and the payment of highway rates, be considered to be and be treated as forming part of such district.

Provided also, that in the case of an urban district constituted after the passing of this Act a meeting of owners and ratepayers of the excluded part (to be convened and conducted in the manner provided by schedule III. to this Act) may decide that such excluded part shall be a highway parish, and thereupon the excluded part shall for all purposes connected with highways, surveyors of highways, and highway rates, be considered and treated as a parish maintaining its own highways ; but the requisition for holding any such meeting shall be made within six months after the constitution of the urban district.

The court of quarter sessions may by order direct that for any such excluded part a waywarden or waywardens shall be elected, and may invest any waywarden elected in pursuance of any such order with all or any of the powers of waywardens under the Highway Acts.

217Certain acts not required to be done in case of highway rate made by urban authority.

It shall not be necessary for the urban authority, in the case of any highway rate made by them, to do the following acts or any of them ; (that is to say,)

  • To lay such rate before any justices, or obtain their allowance ;

  • To annex thereto the signature of such urban authority ;

  • To lay the same before the parishioners assembled in vestry ;

  • To verify before any justices any accounts kept by them of such highway rates ;

and all such accounts shall be audited in all respects in the same way as the other accounts of the urban authority.

General Provisions as to Urban Rates.

218Estimate to be prepared before making rates.

Every urban authority, before proceeding to make a general district rate or private improvement rate under this Act, shall cause an estimate to be prepared of the money required for the purposes in respect of which the rate is to be made, showing—

  • The several sums required for each of such purposes ; and

  • The rateable value of the property assessable ; and

  • The amount of rate which for those purposes it is necessary to make on each pound of such value ;

and the estimate so made shall forthwith, after being approved of by the urban authority, be entered in the rate book, and be kept at their office, open to public inspection during office hours thereat ; but it shall not be deemed part of the rate, nor in any respect affect the validity of the same.

219Rates to be open to inspection.

Any person interested in or assessed to any rate made under this Act may inspect the same, and any estimate made previously thereto, and may take copies of or extracts therefrom without fee or reward ; any person who, having the custody of any such estimate or rate, refuses to allow or does not permit such inspection, or such copies or extracts to be taken, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds.

220Description of owner or occupier in rates.

Where the name of any owner or occupier liable to be rated under this Act is not known to the urban authority it shall be sufficient to assess and designate him in the rate as "the owner" or " the occupier " of the premises in respect of which the assessment is made, without further description.

221Rates may be amended.

An urban authority may from time to time amend any rate made in pursuance of this Act, by inserting therein the name of any person claiming and entitled to have his name inserted, or by inserting the name of any person who ought to have been assessed, or by striking out the name of any person who ought not to have been assessed, or by raising or reducing the sum at which any person has been assessed, if it appears to the urban authority that he has been under-rated or over-rated, or by making any other alteration which will make the rate conformable to the provisions of this Act; and no such amendment shall be held to avoid the rate.

Provided, that any person who may feel himself aggrieved by any such amendment shall have the same right of appeal therefrom as he would have had if the matter of amendment had appeared on the rate originally made, and with respect to him an amended rate shall he considered to have been made at the time when he first received notice of the amendment; and an amended rate shall not he payable by any person the amount of whose rate is increased by the amendment, or whose name is thereby newly inserted until seven days after such notice has been given to him.

222Publication and collection of rates.

All rates made or collected under this Act shall be published in the same manner as poor rates, and shall commence and be payable at such time or times, and shall be made in such manner and form, and be collected by such persons, and either together or separately, or with any other rate or tax, as the urban authority may from time to time appoint: Provided that no publication shall be required of any private- improvement rate.

223Evidence of rates.

The production of the books purporting to contain any rate or assessment made under this Act shall, without any other evidence whatever, be received as prima facie evidence of the making and validity of the rates mentioned therein.

224Power to make deduction from rate in certain cases.

Where it appears to an urban authority that any premises were sufficiently drained before the construction of any new sewer laid down by them, they may deduct from the amount of rates otherwise chargeable in respect of such premises such a sum for such time as they may under all the circumstances of the case deem just.

225Power to reduce or remit rates.

An urban authority may reduce or remit the payment of any rate on account of the poverty of any person liable to the payment thereof.

226Saving for existing agreements.

Nothing in this part of this Act shall alter or affect any lease contract or agreement made or entered into between the landlord and tenant of any premises.

227Limit in local Act not to apply to rate for purposes of this Act.

Any limit imposed on or in respect of any rate by any local Act of Parliament shall not apply to any rate required to be levied for the purpose of defraying any expenses incurred by an urban authority in the execution of this Act.

228Quota of rates to be paid by the universities, &c.

Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to alter or interfere with any liability existing at the time of the passing of this Act of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge respectively to contribute towards the expenses of paving and pitching repairing lighting and cleansing under the powers of any local Act under which the Oxford and Cambridge commissioners respectively act, the several streets and places within the jurisdiction of such commissioners respectively.

If any difference arises between either of the said universities and the urban authority with respect to the proportion and manner in which the universities shall contribute towards any expenses under this Act, and to which the university is not liable under any such local Act, the same shall be settled by arbitration in manner provided by this

All rates, contributions, and sums of money which may become payable under this Act by the said universities respectively, and their respective halls and colleges, may be recovered from such universities halls and colleges in the same manner in all respects as rates contributions and sums of money may now be recovered from them by virtue of any such local Act.

EXPENSES OF RURAL AUTHORITY.

229Expenses of rural authority.

The expenses incurred by a rural authority in the execution of this Act shall be divided into general expenses and special expenses.

General expenses (other than those chargeable on owners and occupiers under this Act) shall be the expenses of the establishment and officers of the rural authority, the expenses in relation to disinfection, the providing conveyance for infected persons, and all other expenses not determined by this Act or by order of the Local Government Board to be special expenses.

Special expenses shall be the expenses of the construction maintenance and cleansing. of sewers in any contributory place within the district, the providing a supply of water to any such place, and maintaining any necessary works for that purpose, if and so far as the expenses of such supply and works are not defrayed out of water rates or rents under this Act, the charges and expenses arising out of or incidental to the possession of property transferred to the rural authority in trust for any contributory place, and all other expenses incurred or payable by the rural authority in or in respect of any contributory place within the district, and determined by order of the Local Government Board to be special expenses.

Where the rural authority make any sewers or provide any water supply or execute any other work under this Act for the common benefit of any two or more contributory places within their district, they may apportion the expense of constructing any such work, and of maintaining the same, in such proportions as they think just, between such contributory places, and any expense so apportioned to any such contributory place shall be deemed to be special expenses legally incurred in respect of such contributory place.

The overseers of any contributory place, if aggrieved by any such apportionment, may, within twenty-one days after notice has been given to them of the apportionment, send or deliver a memorial to the Local Government Board stating their grounds of complaint, and the said Board may make such order in the matter as to it may seem equitable, and the order so made shall be binding and conclusive on all parties concerned.

General expenses shall be payable out of a common fund to be raised out of the poor rate of the parishes in the district according to the rateable value of each contributory place in manner in this Act

Special expenses shall be a separate charge on each contributory place.

The following areas situated in a rural district shall be contributory places for the purposes of this Act ; that is to say,

(1)Every parish not having any part of its area within the limits of a special drainage district formed in pursuance of the Sanitary Acts or of this Act, or of an urban district; and

(2)Every such special drainage district as aforesaid ; and

(3)In the ease of a parish wholly situated in a rural district, and part of which forms or is part of any such special drainage district as aforesaid, such portion of that parish as is not comprised within such special drainage district; and

(4)In the case of a parish a part of which is situated within an urban district, such portion of that parish as is not comprised within such urban district, or within any such special drainage district as aforesaid.

230Mode of raising contributions in rural district.

For the purpose of obtaining payment from the several contributory places within their district of the sums to be contributed by them, the rural authority shall issue their precept to the overseers of each such contributory place requiring such overseers to pay, within a time limited by the precept, the amount specified in such precept to the rural authority or to some person appointed by them, care being taken to issue separate precepts in respect of contributions for general expenses and special expenses, or to make such expenses respectively separate items in any precept including both classes of expenses.

Where a contributory place is part of a parish as defined by this Act, the overseers of such parish shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to be the overseers of such contributory place, and where any part of a contributory place is part of a parish the overseers of such parish shall for the like purposes be deemed to be the overseers of such part of such contributory place.

The overseers shall comply with the requisitions of such precept by paying the contribution required in respect of general expenses out of the poor rate of their respective parishes, and with respect to special expenses by raising the contribution required by the levy (in the case of an entire parish on the whole of such parish, and in the case of a contributory place or part of a contributory place forming part of a parish, by the levy on such place, or such part thereof, exclusive of the rest of the parish) of a separate rate in the same manner as if it were a rate for the relief of the poor, with this exception ; (namely,)

  • That the owner of any tithes, or of any tithe commutation rent-charge, or the occupier of any land used as arable meadow or pasture ground only, or as woodlands market gardens or nursery grounds, and the occupier of any land covered with water, or used as a canal or towing-path for the same, or as a railway constructed under the powers of any Act of Parliament for public conveyance, shall, where a special assessment is made for the purpose of such rate, be assessed in respect of one fourth part only of the rateable value thereof, or where no special assessment is made, shall pay in respect of the said property one fourth part only of the rate in the pound payable in respect of houses and other property :

Provided that where the amount required by any precept or precepts from a contributory place in respect of special expenses is less than ten pounds, or is so small that a rate less than one penny in the pound would be required to raise the same, the overseers shall not assess and levy any special rate for the same, but shall pay the amount as if it formed part of the contribution required from them in respect of general expenses.

A separate rate under this section shall, as respects the powers of the overseers in relation to making assessing and levying such rate, and as respects the appeal against such rate, and all ether incidents thereof except the purposes to which it is applicable, and such exemption as aforesaid, and except the allowance of justices, which shall not be required, be subject to the same provisions as apply in law to a rate levied for the relief of the poor ; and the overseers of a parish shall have the same powers of levying such separate rate in a contributory place or part of a contributory place forming part of their parish, as they would have if such contributory place or such part thereof formed the whole of their parish.

Where a contribution for general expenses is required from a contributory place or part of a contributory place which is part of a parish, the overseers shall from time to time levy such increase of rate from the contributory place or such part thereof as may be sufficient to recoup the parish for the sum it has paid on account of the contributory place or such part thereof in respect of general expenses under this Act, and carry the same to the general account of the parish, and such increase of rate shall be raised in such contributory place or part of a contributory place by an addition to the poor rate, or by a separate rate to be assessed made allowed published collected and levied in the same manner as a poor rate. The officers ordinarily employed in the collection of the poor rate shall, if required by the overseers, collect any separate rate made under this section, and receive out of such separate rate such remuneration for the additional duty as the overseers with the consent of the vestry may determine.

The overseers shall at the expiration of their term of office pay any surplus in their hands arising from any separate rate levied in pursuance of this Act, above the amount for which the rate was made, to the rural authority or to such person as they may appoint, to the credit of the contributory place within which or within part of which such rate was made, and such surplus shall go in reduction of the next call that may be made on such contributory place or such part thereof for the "purpose of defraying the expenses incurred by the rural authority.

231Remedy for nonpayment by overseers of amount required by precept of rural authority.

If the amount required by any precept of a rural authority to be paid by the overseers of any parish is not paid in manner directed by such precept, and within the time therein specified for that purpose, the rural authority shall have the like remedy for recovery from the overseers of such amount as is not paid as guardians have for the time being for recovery from overseers of contributions of parishes, and for that purpose the precept of the rural authority requiring the payment shall be conclusive evidence of the amount thereof.

232As to private improvement expenses.

Whenever a rural authority have incurred or become liable to any expenses which by this Act are, or by such authority may be declared to be private improvement expenses, such authority may make and levy a private improvement rate in the same manner as private improvement rates may be made and levied by an urban authority ; and all the provisions of this Act applicable to private improvement rates leviable by an urban authority shall apply accordingly to any private improvement rate leviable by a rural authority.

BORROWING POWERS.

233Power to borrow on credit of rates.

Any local authority may, with the sanction of the Local Government Board, for the purpose of defraying any costs charges and expenses incurred or to fee incurred by them in the execution of the Sanitary Acts or of this Act, or for the purpose of discharging any loans contracted under the Sanitary Acts or this Act, borrow, or re-borrow, and take up at interest, any sums of money necessary for defraying any such costs charges and expenses, or for discharging any such loans as aforesaid.

An urban authority may borrow or re-borrow any such sums on the credit of any fund or all or any rates or rate out of which they are authorised to defray expenses incurred by them in the execution of this Act, and for the purpose of securing the repayment of any sums so borrowed, with interest thereon, they may mortgage to the persons by or on behalf of whom such sums are advanced any such fund or rates or rate.

A rural authority may borrow or re-borrow any such sums, if applied or intended to be applied to general expenses of such authority, on the credit of the common fund out of which such expenses are payable, and if applied or intended to be applied to special expenses of such authority, on the credit of any rate or rates out of which such expenses are payable, and for the purpose of securing the repayment of any sums so borrowed, with interest thereon, they may mortgage to the persons by or on behalf of whom such sums are advanced any such fund rate or rates.

234Regulations as to exercise of borrowing powers.

The exercise of the powers of borrowing conferred by this Act shall be subject to the following regulations ; (namely,)

(1)Money shall not be borrowed except for permanent works, (including under this expression any works of which the cost ought in the opinion of the Local Government Board to be spread over a term of years) :

(2)The sum borrowed shall not at any time exceed, with the balances of all the outstanding loans contracted by the local authority under the Sanitary Acts and this Act, in the whole the assessable value for two years of the premises assessable within the district in respect of which such money may be borrowed:

(3)Where the sum proposed to be borrowed with such balances (if any) would exceed the assessable value for one year of such premises, the Local Government Board shall not give their sanction to such loan until one of their inspectors has held a local inquiry and reported to the said Board :

(4)The money may be borrowed for such time, not exceeding sixty years, as the local authority, with the sanction of the Local Government Board, determine in each case ; and, subject as aforesaid, the local authority shall either pay off the moneys so borrowed by equal annual instalments of principal or of principal and interest, or they shall in every year set apart as a sinking-fund, and accumulate in the way of compound interest by investing the same in the purchase of Exchequer Bills or other Government securities, such sum as will with accumulations in the way of compound interest be sufficient, after payment of all expenses, to pay off the moneys so borrowed within the period sanctioned :

(5)A local authority may at any time apply the whole or any part of the sinking fund set apart under this Act in or towards the discharge of the moneys for the repayment of which the fund has been established: Provided that they pay into the fund in each year and accumulate until the whole of the moneys borrowed are discharged, a sum equivalent to the interest which would have have been produced by the sinking fund or the part of the sinking fund so applied:

(6)Where money is borrowed for the purpose of discharging a previous loan, the time for repayment of the money so borrowed shall not extend beyond the unexpired portion of the period for which the original loan was sanctioned, unless with the sanction of the Local Government Board, and shall in no case be extended beyond the period of sixty years from the date of the original loan.

Where any urban authority borrow any money for the purpose of defraying private improvement expenses, or expenses in respect of which they have determined a part only of the district to be liable, it shall be the duty of such authority, as between the ratepayers of the district, to make good, so far as they can, the money so borrowed, as occasion requires, either out of private improvement rates, or out of a rate levied in such part of the district as aforesaid.

235Power to borrow on credit of sewage land and plant.

Where any local authority are possessed of any land works or other property for the purposes of disposal of sewage pursuant to this Act, they may borrow any moneys on the credit of such lands works or other property, and may mortgage such lands works or other property to any person advancing such moneys, in the same manner in all respects as if they were the absolute owner, both at law and in equity, of the lands works or other property so mortgaged. The moneys so borrowed shall be applied for purposes for which moneys may be borrowed under this Act; but it shall not be in any way incumbent on the mortgagees to see to the application of such moneys, nor shall they he responsible for any misapplication thereof.

The powers of borrowing conferred by this section shall, where the sums borrowed do not exceed three fourths of the purchase money of such lands (but not otherwise), be deemed to be distinct from and in addition to the general borrowing powers conferred on a local authority by this Act. Any local authority may pay out of any rates leviable by them for purposes of this Act the interest on any moneys borrowed by such authority in pursuance of this section.

236Form of mortgage.

Every mortgage authorised to be made under this Act shall be by deed, truly stating the date consideration and the time and place of payment, and shall be sealed with the common seal of the local authority, and may be made according to the form contained in Schedule IV to this Act, or to the like effect.

237Register of mortgages.

There shall be kept at the office of the local authority a register of the mortgages on each rate, and within fourteen days after the date of any mortgage an entry shall be made in the register of the number and date thereof, and of the names and description of the parties thereto, as stated in the deed. Every such register shall be open to public inspection; during office hours at the said office, without fee or reward ; and any clerk or other person having the custody of the sanle, refusing to allow such inspection, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds.

238Transfer of mortgages.

Any mortgagee or other person entitled to any mortgage under this Act may transfer his estate and interest therein to any other person by deed duly stamped, truly stating its date and the consideration for the transfer ; and such transfers may be according to the form contained in Schedule IV to this Act, or to the like effect.

There shall be kept at the office of the local authority a register of the transfers of mortgage charged on each rate, and within thirty days after the date of such deed of transfer, if executed within the United Kingdom, or within thirty days after its arrival in the United Kingdom, if executed elsewhere, the same shall be produced to the clerk of the local authority, who shall, on payment of a sum not exceeding five shillings, cause an entry to be made in such register of its date, and of the names and description of the parties thereto, as stated in the transfer ; and until such entry is made the local authority shall not be in any manner responsible to the transferee.

On the registration of any transfer the transferee his executors or administrators shall be entitled to the full benefit of the original mortgage and the principal and interest secured thereby ; and any transferee may in like manner transfer his estate and interest in any such mortgage ; and no person except the last transferee his executors or administrators shall be entitled to release or discharge any such mortgage or any money secured thereby.

If the clerk of the local authority wilfully neglects or refuses to make in the register any entry by this section required to be made, he shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds.

239Receiver may be appointed in certain cases.

If at the expiration of six months from the time when any principal money or interest has become due on any mortgage of rates 'made under this Act, and after demand in writing, the same is not paid, the mortgagee or other person entitled thereto may, without prejudice to any other mode of recovery, apply for the appointment of a receiver to a court of summary jurisdiction ; and such court may, after hearing the parties, appoint in writing under their hands and seals some person to collect and receive the whole or a competent part of the rates liable to the payment of the principal or interest in respect of which the application is made, until such principal or interest, or both, as the case may be, together with the costs of the application and of collection, are fully paid.

On such appointment being made all such rates, or such competent part thereof as aforesaid, shall be paid to the person appointed, and when so paid shall be so much money received by or to the use of the mortgagee or mortgagees of such rates, and shall be rateably apportioned between them :

Provided that no such application shall be entertained unless the sum or sums due and owing to the applicant amount to one thousand pounds, or unless a joint application is made by two or more mortgagees or other persons to whom there may be due, after such lapse of time and demand as last aforesaid, moneys collectively amounting to that sum.

240Rentcharge may be granted in respect of advances made for private improvements.

Where any person has advanced money for any expenses which by this Act are, or by the local authority may be declared to be private improvement expenses, the local authority, on being satisfied by the report of their surveyor or otherwise that the money advanced by such person has been duly expended, may issue a grant in the form in Schedule 1V. to this Act to such person of a yearly rentcharge issuable out of the premises, in respect whereof such advance has been made, or out of such part thereof, to be specified in such grant, as the local authority may think proper and sufficient.

Such rentcharge shall be personal estate, and shall begin to accrue from the day of completion of the works on which the money advanced has been expended, and shall he payable by equal half-yearly payments during a term not exceeding thirty years, in such manner that the whole of the sum advanced, with the costs of preparing the said grant, together with interest thereon respectively, at a rate not exceeding six pounds per centum per annum on the sum from time to time remaining unpaid, shall be repaid at the end of the said term.

The provisions of this Act with respect to deduction from the rent of a proportion of private improvement rates, and with respect to redemption of private improvement rates, shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to rentcharges granted under this section.

241Rentcharges to be registered.

Rentcharges issued in pursuance of this Act, and transfers thereof, shall be registered in the same manner respectively as mortgages and transfers are required to be registered under the provisions of this Act.

242Power of Public Works Loan Commissioners to lend to local authority.

The Public Works Loan Commissioners may, if they see fit, on the application of any local authority, make any loan to such authority for any of the purposes of this Act on the security of any fund or rate applicable to any of the purposes of this Act, without requiring any further or other security.

243Power of Public Works Loan Commissioners to lend to local authority on recommendation of Local Government Board.

The Public Works Loan Commissioners may, on the application of any local authority and on the recommendation of the Local Government Board, make any loan to such authority in pursuance of any powers of borrowing conferred by this Act, whether for works already executed or yet to be executed, on the security of any fund or rate applicable to any of the purposes of this Act, and without requiring any further or other security, such loan to be repaid within a period not exceeding fifty years, and to bear interest 'at the rate of three and a half per centum per annum, or such other rate as may, in the judgment of the Commissioners of the Treasury, be necessary, in order to enable the loan to be made without loss to the Exchequer :

Provided,—

(1)That in determining the time when a loan under this section shall be repayable, the Local Government Board shall have regard to the probable duration and continuing utility of the works in respect of which the same is required:

(2)That this section shall not extend to any loan required for the purpose of defraying expenses incurred by the Local Government Board in the performance of the duty of a defaulting local authority after the passing of the Public Health Act, 1872.

In the case of a loan made before the passing of the Public Health Act, 1872, to any local authority in pursuance of any powers conferred by the Sanitary Acts, the Public Works Loan Commissioners may reduce the interest payable thereon to the rate of not less than three and a half per centum per annum.

244Borrowing powers of joint boards and certain other authorities.

Joint boards and port sanitary authorities under this Act, and the local board of health of any main sewerage district and any joint sewerage board constituted under any of the Sanitary Acts and existing at the time of the passing of this Act shall, for the purposes of their constitution, have like powers of borrowing on the credit of any fund or rate applicable by them to purposes of this Act or on the credit of sewage land and plant as are by this Act conferred on local authorities, and in the exercise of those powers shall be subject to the like restrictions ; and the Public Works Loan Commissioners may make any loan to any of the above-mentioned authorities which they may make to a local authority under this Act.

AUDIT.

Audit of Accounts of Local Authorities.

245Accounts of local authorities.

Accounts of the receipts and .expenditure under this Act of every local authority shall be made up in such form and to such day in every year as the Local Government Board may appoint.

246Audit where urban authority are a town council.

Where an urban authority are the council of a borough the accounts of the receipts and expenditure under this Act of such authority shall be audited and examined by the auditors of the borough, and shall be published in like manner, and at the same time as the municipal accounts, and the auditors shall proceed in the audit after like notice and in like manner, shall have like powers and authorities, and perform like duties, as in the case of auditing the municipal accounts.

Each of such auditors shall in respect of each audit be paid such reasonable remuneration, not being less than two guineas for every day in which they are employed in such audit, as such authority from time to time appoint. Any order of such authority for the payment of any money may be removed by certiorari, and like proceedings may be had thereon as under section forty-four of the Act of the first year of Her Majesty, chapter seventy-eight, with respect to orders of the council of a borough for payments out of the borough fund.

247Audit where urban authority are not a town council.

Where an urban authority are not the council of a borough the following regulations with respect to audit shall be observed ; (namely,)

(1)The accounts of the receipts and expenditure under this Act of such authority shall be audited and examined once in every year, as soon as can be after the twenty-fifth day of March, by the auditor of accounts relating to the relief of the poor for the union in which the district of such authority or the greater part thereof is situate, unless such auditor is a member of the authority whose accounts he is appointed to audit, in which case such accounts shall be audited by such auditor of any adjoining union as may from time to time be appointed by the Local Government Board :

(2)There shall be paid to such auditor in respect of each audit under this Act, such reasonable remuneration, not being less than two guineas for every day in which he is employed in such audit, as such authority from time to time appoint, together with his expenses of travelling to and from the place of audit :

(3)Before each audit such authority shall, after receiving from the auditor the requisite appointment, give at least fourteen days notice of the time and place at which the same will be made, and of the deposit of accounts required by this section, by advertisement in some one or more of the local newspapers circulated in the district ; and the production of the newspaper containing such notice shall be deemed to be sufficient proof of such notice on airy proceeding whatsoever:

(4)A copy of the accounts duly made up and balanced, together with all rate books account books deeds contracts accounts vouchers and receipts mentioned or referred to in such accounts, shall be deposited in the office of such authority, and be open, during office hours thereat, to the inspection of all persons interested for seven clear days before the audit, and all such persons shall be at liberty to take copies of or extracts from the same, without fee or reward ; and any officer of such authority duly appointed in that behalf neglecting to make up such accounts and books, or altering such accounts and books, or allowing them to be altered when so made up, or refusing to allow inspection thereof, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds :

(5)For the purpose of any audit under this Act, every auditor may, by summons in writing, require the production before him of all books deeds contracts accounts vouchers receipts and other documents and papers which he may deem necessary, and may require any person holding or accountable for any such books deeds contracts accounts vouchers receipts documents or papers to appear before him at any such audit or any adjournment thereof, and to make and sign a declaration as to the correctness of the same ; and if any such person neglects or refuses so to do, or to produce any such books deeds contracts accounts vouchers receipts documents or papers, or to make or sign such declaration, he shall incur for every neglect or refusal a penalty not exceeding forty shillings ; and if he falsely or corruptly makes or signs any such declaration, knowing the same to be untrue in any material particular, he shall be liable to the penalties inflicted on persons guilty of wilful and corrupt perjury :

(6)Any ratepayer or owner of property in the district may be present at the audit, and may make any objection to such accounts before the auditor; and such ratepayers and owners shall have the same right of appeal against allowances by an auditor as they have by law against disallowances :

(7)Any auditor acting in pursuance of this section shall disallow every item of account contrary to law, and surcharge the same on the person making or authorising the making of the illegal payment, and shall charge against any person accounting the amount of any deficiency or loss incurred by the negligence or misconduct of that person, or of any sum which ought to have been but is not brought into account by that person, and shall in every such case certify the amount, due from such person, and on application by any party aggrieved shall state in writing the reasons for his decision in respect of such disallowance or surcharge, and also of any allowance which he may have made :

(8)Any person aggrieved by disallowance made may apply to the Court of Queen's Bench for a writ of certiorari to remove the disallowance into the said court, in the same manner and subject to the same conditions as are provided in the case of disallowances by auditors under the laws for the time being in force with regard to the relief of the poor ; and the said court shall have the same powers with respect to allowances disallowances and surcharges under this Act as it has with respect to disallowances or allowances by the said auditors ; or in lieu of such application any person so aggrieved may appeal to the Local Government Board, which Board shall have the same powers in the case of the appeal as it possesses in the case of appeals against allowances disallowances and surcharges by the said poor law auditors :

(9)Every sum certified to be due from any person by an auditor under this Act shall be paid by such person to the treasurer of such authority within fourteen days after the same has been so certified, unless there is an appeal against the decision ; and if such sum is not so paid, and there is no such appeal, the auditor shall recover the same from the person against whom the same has been certified to be due by the like process and with the like powers as in the case of sums certified on the audit of the poor rate accounts, and shall be paid by such authority all such costs and expenses, including a reasonable compensation for loss of time incurred by him in such proceedings, as are not recovered by him from such person :

(10)Within fourteen days after the completion of the audit, the auditor shall report on the accounts audited and examined, and shall deliver such report to the clerk of such authority, who shall cause the same to be deposited in their office, and shall publish an abstract of such accounts in some one or more of the local newspapers circulated in the district.

Where the provisions as to audit of any local Act constituting a board of improvement commissioners are repugnant to or inconsistent with those of this Act, the audit of the accounts of such improvement commissioners shall be conducted in all respects in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

248Audit of accounts of rural authority.

The accounts under this Act of every rural authority shall be audited by the same persons and in every respect in the same manner as the accounts of guardians are audited under the Acts for the relief of the poor for the time being in force.

The accounts of the overseers collecting or paying any money for the purposes of this Act shall be audited in the same manner as the accounts of overseers collecting or paying any money for the purposes of the Acts relating to the relief of the poor for the time being in force.

An auditor shall, with respect to the accounts audited under this section, have the like powers and be subject to the like obligations in every respect as in the case of an audit under the Acts relating to the relief of the poor, and any person aggrieved by the decision of the auditor shall have the like rights and remedies as in the case of such last-mentioned audit.

249Taxation of bill of solicitor or attorney.

On the application of any local authority whose accounts are required by this Act to be audited to the clerk of the peace of the county in which the district of such authority is wholly or in part situated, the said clerk or his deputy shall tax any bill due to any solicitor or attorney in respect of legal business performed on behalf of such authority; and the allowance of any sum on such taxation shall be prima facie evidence of the reasonableness of the amount, but not of the legality of the charge.

The clerk of the peace shall be allowed for such taxation a remuneration after the rate to be fixed by the master of the Crown Office, and declared by an order of the Local Government Board.

If any such bill is not taxed by the clerk of the peace or some other duly authorised taxing officer before being presented to the auditors or auditor, the decision of the auditors or auditor upon the reasonableness and the legality of the charge shall be final.

250Auditor to audit accounts of officers.

The accounts under this Act of officers or assistants of any local authority who are required to receive moneys or goods on behalf of such authority shall be audited by the auditors or auditor of the accounts of such authority, with the same powers incidents and consequences as in the case of such last-mentioned accounts.

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