FINANCE. Under this head Ilrdinrn•y Rerenu, include the proceeds of taxes, special assessments for benefits, like the frontage tax for street pav ing. and various licenses and fees. li.rlroor•dinnry lit venue includes money from loans. bond issues, and trust funds or bequests. Some cities of Con tinental Europe receive no little revenue from landed property, and the cities of Great Britain and Germany, and a few in the United States, derive considerable revenue from municipal fran chises. Where municipal ownership prevails in Itritish cities effort is often made to turn into the common treasury a revenue for the reduction of the general tax rate. In the United States a portion of the revenue from and less frequently front municipal industries, is sometimes applied in ;1. similar manner. The taxing power is generally limited to the council, the chief exceptions tieing the education and poor authorities in Great Britain, which have an inde pendent power of taxation. In the United States the councils often have to raise large sums by taxation for independent boards, and also for the county and for the Stale. It is COmnOn for the in dependent boards to incur bonded indebtidness without consulting the conned. hot only as the authority, ire general or specitie term-, is granted by the Stale Legislature. The suh-departments under the general head of ii Bee are tax asses -ors. who place a valuation on taxable property: a board of review or appeals front the rulings of the last named officers: tax collectors; the treas urer, who receives money from the collectors; the disbursing office• or controller. who issues or ap proves for the payment of bills and claims; and the auditing department. In some cities, parthmlarly the smaller OBI'S. the treas urer is also the disbursing offieer, and the ermined inslogil of a controller may approve The entaleipu/ touber I, or the estimate of receipts and expenditures upon whirl the tax rate and appro. pri Ilions are based, is prepanul aecerdine to va rious methods. In general, the several
ments make up their respective estimates, and these are amended by the mayor, or by a special board created for that purpose, and sent to the conned for further amendment and final rntifiea t ten.
Crry rut ?rrrmRs. The municipality being a mere creature of the a t f% its area, powers, and form of government are laid down by the Legis lature in the form of i I 1 a act or char ter; (21 a elven act for cities of a given class; or (3) a series of either general acts relating to groups of cities or to all municipal corporations; or (4) special legislation on any subject and at any time that suits the wishes of the Legisla ture. Strictly speaking, the first only is a city charter, but the other grants of power have the same general effect, except that 3 and 4 are sue cessiN ply more confusing and less satisfactory than 1 and 2. In the United States city charters may or may not be, as the Legislature secs fit, submitted to popular vote for approval. Fre quently both elmrters and charter amendments are so submitted, and where general munieipul corporation acts prevail the transition from one class to another is generally by popular vote, but it may follow from an inerease in population. As a rule, voters of a municipality have sonic voice or influence in framing new or amending old charters, except perhaps where general legislation prevails. This participation goes so far in some cases as to permit the framing of the designed changes by an authorized charter commission or to the adoption of changes requested by the muni cipal oliicials. In Missouri. California, and Wash ington, charter-making is virtually under the con trol of the municipality, subject to more or less specific legislative restrictions. Far more com monly, the respective legislatures pass enabling acts, which may or may not be in the nature of charter• amendments, and leave their adoption to the popular vote.