VPRS 16552 Rate Books

Every year each local council is required to make and levy rates in respect of all rateable properties within its municipal district. The Municipal Institutions Act 1854 (No.26) empowered local councils to make by-laws for the regulation of their own proceedings including the collection of rates. The amount of rate is therefore determined by the council although a statutory limit applies. Rates are the main source of revenue for the council.The rate record is a record of the levying and payment of rates on rateable properties. Apart from the general rate which is levied equally on all properties, a council may levy an extra rate or a special rate. An extra rate may be levied, over and above the general rate, on a subdivision of a municipality to cover expenses occurred in that subdivision. A special rate may be levied when a council undertakes works for the special benefit of a particular portion of the municipality. Separate rate records are maintained for general, extra and special rates and these are therefore registered as separate series.For each rateable property a record is created which identifies the property and person rated and includes details of the annual value of the property, the amounts due, amounts paid, arrears and when rates were abandoned. A complete rate record may comprise two parts: a Register of Rateable Properties and a Rates Register. The Register of Rateable Properties identifies the properties and persons rated and the Rates Register comprises the accounting details. Where these two parts exist they are registered separately.The format of rate records has changed over the years. Initially the levying and payment of rates were recorded in volumes (known as Rate Books) until the introduction of cards (known as Rate Cards) from the 1930s. In the 1980's and 1990's automated systems have mostly been used. Printouts of the automated system are usually produced as the rate record. Series of rate records in different formats are registered separately.

每年，各地方议会均需就其市政辖区内的全部应课税物业（rateable properties）制定并征收差饷（rates）。1854年《市政机构法》（第26号）授权地方议会制定附例，规范自身运作流程，其中包括差饷征收事宜；尽管存在法定上限，但差饷征收额度仍由地方议会决定，且差饷亦是地方议会的主要收入来源。差饷记录是对辖区内应课税物业的差饷征收与缴纳情况进行登记的档案，除面向所有物业统一征收的通用差饷外，地方议会还可征收额外差饷或专项差饷：额外差饷可在通用差饷基础上，针对市政辖区内的分区征收，用于覆盖该分区产生的开支，专项差饷则可在地方议会为市政辖区内特定区域开展专属受益工程时征收。地方议会会分别留存通用、额外及专项差饷的相关记录，并将其归为不同的登记序列。针对每一处应课税物业，系统会创建专属档案，载明物业信息及被课税人身份，并包含物业年度估值、应缴金额、已缴金额、拖欠款项以及差饷豁免时间等详细信息。一套完整的差饷记录可分为两部分：应课税物业登记册（Register of Rateable Properties）与差饷登记册（Rates Register），其中应课税物业登记册用于载明物业及被课税人信息，而差饷登记册则包含财务核算相关的详细内容，若上述两部分档案均存在，则会分别进行登记。差饷记录的档案格式历经多次变迁，早期差饷的征收与缴纳情况均以簿册形式登记（此类簿册被称为差饷簿（Rate Books）），直至20世纪30年代起卡片式档案（即差饷卡（Rate Cards））开始被采用，到20世纪80年代及90年代，自动化系统已成为主流的差饷记录载体，自动化系统生成的打印件通常即作为差饷记录档案，不同格式的差饷记录序列会分别进行登记。