The Finance Of The Shanghai International Settlement

In the income structure of the Municipal Council,Municipal Tax,Land Tax,Whafages Dues and Licence Fees formed the foundation,these taxes are mainly business tax.The collection of Whafages Dues was cancelled short-term from 1880 to 1884,and then it was reopened.From this period onwards,the Municipal tax has become the most important tax for the Municipal Council.The License Fee is the next highest.The collection of Whafages Dues is related to trade,and the power of the Municipal Council to impose this tax is often questioned.Ultimately,it was collected by the Customs,which also accounts for the proportion of income of the the Municipal Council decline.The collection of Municipal Tax,Land Tax is relatively stable,and the the Municipal Council can adjust in time with the adjustment of house rents and land valuations,so both taxes have a certain increase,especially with the development of the population and capital inflows,the financial scale of the concession can be greatly increased.The expenditure of the Municipal Council is mainly in the two aspects of public works and policing.In addition,the expenditures of health and general affairs also occupy a certain percentage.The above four items account for more than 70% of the total expenditure of the Municipal Council.The policing expenditure is mainly the salary of the police.The Municipal Council has handled the difference between staffing and salary to maintain the stability,security and livability of the concession.Public works expenditures are mostly municipal works within the concession,the most important being roads,in addition to drainage systems,bridges,and municipal lighting.The Municipal Council continuously raises public debt and raises funds for temporary expenses.As a result,the scale of its debt is continuously expanding.At the same time,with the expansion of management institutions,the property of the Municipal Council is also increasing,.In the case of limited income growth,it increased its own assets.Along with the expansion and development of the concession,while the debt kept growing,due to the large scale municipal construction of the Municipal Council,its assets were able to appreciate,resulting in an assetliability ratio.It has dropped again and again,but its debt is close to one year’s revenue and expenditure.