The Development of Municipal Finance in Scotland
| Author | J. D. Imrie |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1928.tb02320.x |
| Date | 01 January 1928 |
| Published date | 01 January 1928 |
The
Development
of
Municipal
Finance
in
Scotland
By
J.
D.
IMRIE,
M.A.,
B.Com.,
F.S.A.A.
(City
Chamberlain, Edinburgh)
[Pa
fier
read
before
the
Institute
of
Public Administration in Edinburgh,
HE
post-war
era
has been remarkable for the development
of
T
municipal effort in both
its
principal spheres.
In
the category
of
services maintained out
of
local rates activity has been marked by
excursions into the realms of housing on
a
large scale, by phenomenal
road development, and, mainly through the creation of new housing
areas,
by
an extension
of
all
the ordinary municipal services. On the
other hand, in all the trading services, each of which,
as
is well known,
is
run on
a
commercial basis, rapid extensions have taken place.
Electricity, the subject
of
much post-war legislation, has absorbed
considerable capital. Transport has also c.laimed attention, and the
remarkable progress made by the motor bus has in
its
turn
created
a
problem which involves
a
new estimation of the probable economic life
of
its
predecessor, the tramcar. Gas Undertakings, too, benefiting by
the advancement of science, have improved and extended in many
directions, particularly
so
in those
of
the manufacture of gas itself and
of
the appliances which serve the multifarious uses
to
which gas lighting,
heating, and power may be put.
With phenomenal development in both spheres
it
is
not
at all
difficult
to
account for the various signs on the post-war financial horizon, which,
according to the minds of those who take note
of
them, portend for some
the decline and for others the rise of
Great
Britain
as
a
world force.
These signs, however,
must
be noted by
any
thinking
financier
and
economist who wishes to further the science of administration. Among
them may be mentioned the increase in municipal indebtedness coupled
with
a
high level of local rates.
All
development, however, connotes
expenditure
both
on
capital and ordinary account.
In
its
turn
expenditure
connotes revenue.
A
municipality borrows money to provide
its
revenue
on capital account, redeeming by annual payments from the ordinary
account. Now, while borrowing
is
common to all municipal departments,
rating and trading alike, for
its
capital purposes, there
is
no such common
source of revenue when the Ordinary Account
is
considered. The Revenue
24
rcth
January,
19281
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