The Short Title of this Act is “The Town Districts Act, 1881.”

It shall come into operation on the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-two.

“The Rating Act, 1876,” “The Regulation of Local Elections Act, 1876,” Parts III. and IV. of “The Public Works Act, 1876,” and Parts XI. and XII. of “The Municipal Corporations Act, 1876,” are hereby incorporated with this Act, and shall respectively be read with the necessary changes of words and phrases to render them applicable to the purposes of this Act.

In this Act, if not inconsistent with the context,—

The inhabitants of any locality not constituted a borough under “The Municipal Corporations Act, 1876,” wherein there are not less than fifty householders, may apply by petition to the Governor praying that such locality may be constituted a town district under this Act.

No such locality shall exceed two square miles in area, and no one point in such area shall be distant more than four miles from any other point therein, except in the case of military townships.

In every such locality not less than two-thirds of the number of the resident householders shall concur in any such petition, and each signature to such petition shall be verified by the attestation of some respectable witness.

Such petition shall set forth accurately the boundaries of the locality to which such petition shall refer.

Any person signing the name of any householder to such petition without the authority of such householder for so doing, or attesting the signature of any person thereto without first ascertaining that such person is a householder in such locality, shall be liable for every such offence to a penalty not exceeding five pounds, to be recovered in a summary way.

On the receipt of any such petition the Governor may, by Proclamation, declare that the provisions of this Act shall come into force within such locality, and that the same shall be a town district under this Act.

Such Proclamation shall accurately define the boundaries of the district in accordance with the description contained in the petition, and shall declare the name by which such district shall thereafter be known.

The Governor may from time to time alter, curtail, or enlarge, within the limits hereinbefore mentioned, the boundaries of any of the town districts enumerated in the First Schedule hereto or of any town district hereafter established, either before or after the same is proclaimed.

Any town district established under this Act shall thereafter cease to be a part of the road or highway district within which it was theretofore included; but such road district shall be deemed to be the same road district and the corporation thereof the same as before such town district was severed therefrom.

A town district established under this Act shall nevertheless continue to be a part of the county wherein it is included, and the property therein shall be subject in all respects to the county jurisdiction.

So soon as any town district is constituted, the Boards of the town district and of the road district, of which the town district was theretofore a part, shall agree together and determine as to the following matters:—

What part of the property, real and personal, of the said road district shall become the property of the town district:

What part of any rates payable to such road district at the date of the establishing of the town district shall be deemed to be rates payable to the town district:

What part of the liabilities and engagements of such road district outstanding at such date shall be liabilities and engagements of the town district:

What part of the interest and sinking fund of any loan (if any) raised by such road district shall be paid by such town district:

And such agreement shall be in writing, and shall be final as between the said districts.

If no such agreement is made within two months after the first election of the Board of the town district, the Governor may, upon the application of either of the two Boards between whom such agreement is to be made, appoint any fit person or persons to hold an inquiry and make an award as to the several matters mentioned in the last preceding section, and their award thereon shall be final.

All property, real or personal, allotted to the town district by any such agreement or award, shall become vested in the Board thereof on and after the date of the establishment of such town district.

Nothing in this Act shall in any way affect the rights or interests of any bondholder or other creditor of any road district from which a part has been taken to form a town district, or shall relieve the ratepayers for the time being in the area comprised in any such first-mentioned district from their liability to pay any special rate made under the provisions of any Act as a security for any such loan.

In each town district there shall be established a Board of Commissioners to be called “The Town Board.” Each such Board shall be a corporation, with perpetual succession and a common seal.

The Board of Commissioners shall consist of not less than five nor more than seven in number, as the Governor shall appoint.

They shall hold office for a period of two years.

At the first election every householder within the district shall be qualified to be elected a Commissioner, but at subsequent elections no person shall be qualified to be elected a Commissioner unless he shall be rated for the purposes of this Act at an annual rental of ten pounds at least.

Every person whose name shall appear on the electoral roll for any riding of the county within which the district is included, and who shall own or occupy property situated within the district, shall be entitled to vote at the first and any other election of Commissioners prior to any rate being levied under this Act; and after any rate shall have been levied under this Act the ratepayers of the district and none others shall be entitled to vote as electors.

Every elector shall be entitled to vote at every election of Commissioners according to the following scale, that is to say,—

The Clerk, or some other person to be appointed by the Board, shall, on or before the fifteenth day of April in each year, cause to be prepared from the aforesaid electoral rolls of ridings of counties a roll for the district, containing the names, arranged in the alphabetical order of their surnames, of all the electors in such district, and shall enter thereon the number of votes which each elector is entitled to.

A copy of such roll shall be kept at some convenient place to be appointed by the Board, and shall be open to inspection at all reasonable hours from the twentieth day of April in each year to the succeeding fifteenth day of May; and the provisions of sections forty-six to forty-nine, both inclusive, shall, mutatis mutandis, apply in every particular to the aforesaid rolls and all persons interested therein respectively.

The first election shall take place at such time and place as the Governor shall by public notification appoint, but in no case shall the time for such election exceed three calendar months from the date of the Proclamation declaring and defining the district.

Every election shall be conducted in manner prescribed by “The Regulation of Local Elections Act, 1876.”

The Returning Officer shall publicly notify the names of Commissioners elected at any general or particular election, and the expenses thereby incurred shall be deemed to be expenses incident to the election.

Every Board of Commissioners, and every member thereof, shall hold office until its or his successor respectively is elected and comes into office, which shall be on the day when the result of the election is publicly notified as aforesaid.

Every election subsequent to the first shall take place at intervals of two years, on the same day of the year on which the first election took place, unless such day shall fall on a Sunday, and in that case on the following Monday.

If from any cause no Commissioner shall be elected, or the requisite number of Commissioners shall not be elected, the Returning Officer shall send to the Governor notice that no Commissioner has been elected, or that the requisite number of Commissioners have not been elected, as the case may require, and thereupon the Governor shall appoint a fit and proper person or persons to fill up the vacancy or vacancies.

If any Commissioner shall by writing addressed to the Board of which he is a member resign his office of Commissioner, or die, or become of unsound mind, or become bankrupt or compound with his creditors, or be convicted of any felony or indictable misdemeanour, or absent himself without the leave of the Board from four or more consecutive meetings of the Board, or become interested either solely or jointly with any other person in any contract with the Board of which he is a member, otherwise than as a member of any incorporated or registered company or of any body corporate, or accept or hold any place of profit under the Board, he shall immediately cease to be a Commissioner.

Upon any member of the Board ceasing to be a Commissioner from any of the causes in this section mentioned, the Chairman of the Board shall thereupon in writing under his hand direct a fresh election to be held, and a fresh election shall thereupon be held; but the Commissioner to be then elected shall hold office only for the remainder of the term for which the retiring Commissioner would have held office.

Whenever any appointment, or other necessary act, matter, or thing requiring to be made or done under the provisions of this Act has not been made or done before the expiration of the time or of the power for doing the same, the Governor may make any such appointment, or do any such act, matter, or thing respectively, in the stead of the persons who ought to have made or done the same.

Every Board shall have power to make regulations for the orderly conduct of the business of the Board, and for determining the times and places of meeting of the Board, and may from time to time suspend, revoke, alter, vary, and amend such regulations: Provided that nothing in any such regulations shall be inconsistent with this Act.

The Governor shall by public notice appoint a time and place for the first meeting of the Board.

The Commissioners present at the first meeting of each Board after its election shall select some member of such Board to be Chairman, who shall continue to be Chairman during the two years of his office as a member of such Board, or until he shall by writing addressed to the Board resign his office as Chairman; in which case the Commissioners at their next meeting shall elect some other member of the Board to be the Chairman thereof until the expiration of the term of office of such member as a Commissioner.

The following provisions shall be in force relating to the meetings of the Board and the members thereof:—

The Chairman or the Clerk shall give notice in writing to each of the Commissioners of the time appointed from time to time for ordinary meetings, and the Commissioners shall attend such meetings without further notice of each meeting.

The Chairman shall, when present, preside at all meetings of the Board, and in his absence the Commissioners present shall elect some member present to be Chairman of the meeting.

Every question coming before the Board shall be decided by open voting, and by the majority present, and in case of an equality of votes the Chairman, or Commissioner acting as Chairman, shall have a second or casting vote.

All powers vested in the Board may be exercised by a quorum, which shall consist of half the whole number of Commissioners when that number is even, and of a majority when that number is odd; and no business shall be transacted at any meeting unless a quorum is present.

No Commissioner shall vote upon or take any part in the discussion of any matter before the Board in which he has directly or indirectly, by himself or his partners, any interest apart from any interest in common with the public; and any Commissioner who knowingly offends against this section shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds for every such offence; and on being convicted thereof his seat in the Board shall become vacant.

Any meeting of the Board may be adjourned; and, if a quorum is not present within half an hour of the time appointed for any meeting, the Commissioners, or Commissioner if there is only one present, or the Clerk if no Commissioner is present, may adjourn such meeting to another day not later than seven days thereafter. And notice of such adjourned meeting shall be given to each Commissioner.

The ordinary meetings of the Board shall be held for transacting the ordinary business of the Board, for appointing and removing the officers of the Board and superintending their conduct, and for inquiring into the conduct of contractors or other persons employed to execute works, and into the state and progress of such works, and for ordering the expenditure of the Board, and generally for doing all things necessary to carry this Act into effect.

Meetings of the Board shall be open to the public; but the Board may exclude strangers or any stranger on account of disorderly conduct, or where the Board wishes to deliberate in private upon any matter.

No extraordinary business shall be transacted at any ordinary meeting, unless due notice thereof has been given at a prior meeting, and notice thereof in writing sent to each Commissioner; and the Chairman shall determine what business shall be deemed to be extraordinary within the meaning of this section.

Any resolution of a meeting of the Board may be revoked or altered at a subsequent meeting, either by a unanimous vote of all the Commissioners, or subject to the condition that, seven days at least before such subsequent meeting, notice thereof shall be given to each Commissioner, and of the proposal to revoke or alter such resolution by a vote of the majority of the Board.

The Board may at any time hold a special meeting, to be called either upon a resolution of the Board or by delivery to the Clerk of a requisition in writing, signed by the Chairman or by any three Commissioners, specifying the day for which such special meeting is to be called.

The power hereby given to do anything by “special order” shall only be exercised as follows:—

Every notice of a meeting shall be in writing under the hand of the Clerk, and shall be sent to each Commissioner seven clear days at the least before such meeting; and in the case of extraordinary business to be brought before an ordinary meeting, or of a special meeting, or of the proposal to alter or revoke a resolution, the notice shall set forth the business to be brought before the meeting.

No proceeding of the Board, or of any person acting as Commissioner, shall be invalidated in consequence of there being a vacancy in the number of Commissioners at the time of such proceeding, or by reason of the discovery, after such proceeding, that there was some defect in the election or appointment of any person so acting, or that he was incapable of being a Commissioner.

The Clerk shall keep the minutes of proceedings of the Board in a book, in which he shall enter, subject to the direction of the Board, the names of the Commissioners attending each meeting, and the names of the Commissioners voting on each question on which there is a division, and every resolution, order, or other proceeding of the Board; and the minutes and proceedings of every meeting shall be read at the next meeting succeeding, and, if approved by the Board, or when amended as directed by the Board, shall be signed by the Chairman of such succeeding meeting.

The minutes of proceedings of the Board kept as above provided shall be received as evidence of such proceedings, and the validity of all such proceedings shall be presumed unless the contrary is proved.

Every Collector or other person appointed to receive any rate levied under the provisions of this Act shall give to the Board sufficient approved security for the faithful execution of his office, and the duly accounting for all moneys received by him on behalf of the Board.

The Board shall have no control over any main road, or any county road, or over any portion of any such roads respectively, traversing or lying within the town district.

Subject to the foregoing section, the Board shall have all the powers conferred upon a Borough Council by the provisions contained in Part XI. of “The Municipal Corporations Act, 1876,” or any enactment amending the same respectively.

And, further, with respect to lighting, in places where no gasworks may be established, or notwithstanding that gasworks may be established in any district, the Board may contract with any person for the lighting of public lamps within the district by other methods than gas.

Every Board shall within its limits and jurisdiction be the Local Board of Health therein under any Act for the time being in force relating to public health.

Every town district established under this Act shall be deemed to be an incorporated town within the meaning of any enactment extending the definition of the term “borough;” and

Every Board shall have all the powers granted to a Borough Council by any enactment relating to auctioneers, cattle trespass, cemeteries, dog nuisance, fencing, fire prevention, licensing publicans, municipal police, public pounds, roads or highways, and any other matter of social economy.

The Board shall have the power to make by-laws in manner provided with respect to Borough Councils by Part XII. of “The Municipal Corporations Act, 1876,” and in relation to any matters comprised therein.

The said Part XII., together with any enactment passed in amendment of any of the provisions contained in the said Part, shall apply to all by-laws made by any Board under this Act in relation to any of the aforesaid matters.

The Board of every town district shall, once at least in every year, and from time to time, as it thinks fit, make and levy general rates on all rateable property within the district, for carrying into effect the general purposes of this Act; but the total amount of such rates made for any one year shall not exceed one shilling in the pound on the rateable value.

Before making any such rate, the Board shall cause an estimate to be prepared of the proposed expenditure of the Board during the period for which the rate is to be made, showing any sums already available for such purpose, the additional sum required, the total rateable value of rateable property on the valuation roll, and the rate thereon necessary to raise the money required; and such estimate, being approved by the Board, shall be publicly notified in the district at least seven days before making the proposed rate.

Where it appears to the Board that any work which the Board are by this Act authorized to execute is for the special benefit of any particular portion of the district, the Board may, for defraying the expenses incurred in executing such work, by special order distinctly defining such portion, make and levy a separate rate; but the total amount of all such separate rates made for any one year in any part of the district shall not exceed one shilling in the pound.

No such special order shall be made unless a petition shall be presented to the Board praying that a separate rate may be made and levied, signed by a majority of the ratepayers in such portion of the district liable to be rated to such separate rate.

The Board shall apply the moneys collected and received from any such portion of the district respectively by virtue of any such separate rate or rates towards the expense of such works as herein mentioned, or towards recouping themselves the expense of any such works which may have been constructed before such separate rate was resolved on.

Nothing herein contained shall apply to the case of a water-rate, or other rate fixed by Act or Provincial Ordinance.

The Board shall from time to time appoint a Treasurer, and may from time to time remove such Treasurer and appoint another. Such Treasurer may be a member of the Board, provided he does not derive any profit or emolument from his office.

The Treasurer of the Board shall, in the month of March in every year, prepare a balance-sheet and a detailed statement of account, to be published or posted in some public place for the information of the ratepayers, showing the various sums received and expended by or on behalf of the Board during the past year, and also showing the assets and liabilities of the Board generally: Provided that the Board may require from the Treasurer, at any time and from time to time, a full and particular statement of the accounts, assets, and liabilities of the Board.

The accounts of the Treasurer shall be audited by one or more independent auditors to be appointed by the Governor.

Nothing in this Act contained shall preclude the householders within a town district from petitioning that the same may be constituted a borough in manner provided by the seventeenth section of “The Municipal Corporations Act, 1876,” herein called “the said Act.”

Whenever a town district constituted under this Act becomes a borough under the said Act, the Town Board of such district or place shall be deemed to have been a corporation existing in such place before its constitution as a borough under the said Act, within the meaning of the sixteenth section thereof. The said sixteenth section shall apply in respect of such district or place as if it had become a borough under the fifteenth section of the said Act.

A district established under this Act may be dissolved in the same manner as a borough may be dissolved under the said Act.

The provisions of the said Act numbered from three hundred and fifty-four to three hundred and fifty-eight, both inclusive, shall, mutatis mutandis, have application in any such case, the words “town district” being read in the aforesaid sections in the place of the word “borough,” wherever it occurs therein respectively, and the words “Town Board of a district” in the place of “Council of a borough.”

Any summons or notice, or any writ or other proceeding at law or in equity requiring to be served upon the Board, may be served by the same being left at their office, or by being given personally to the Chairman or Clerk.

Every order, summons, notice, or other document requiring authentication by the Board shall be sufficiently authenticated if signed by two members thereof, or by the Chairman and Clerk; and it need not be under the common seal of the body corporate, and the same may be in writing or in print, or partly in writing and partly in print.

If any person against whom the Board has any claim or demand shall take the benefit of any Act for liquidation of the estates of debtors, or relating to bankruptcy or insolvency, or be brought under the operation of any such Act, the Clerk or Treasurer of the Board, in all proceedings against such person, or against his estate, or against such person in respect of any act, matter, or thing arising under any such Act or in relation thereto, may represent the Board, and act in their behalf in all respects as if such claim or demand had been the claim or demand of such Clerk or Treasurer, and not of the Board.

In all proceedings in any Resident Magistrate’s Court, or before any Justice, under this Act, in which the Board shall be concerned, the Clerk, or any person to be from time to time appointed by the Board for the purpose, may represent the Board and act in their behalf in all respects as though such Clerk or person and not the Board had been the party concerned.

The Clerk or Treasurer shall be reimbursed out of the District Fund all damages, costs, charges, and expenses to which he shall be put, or with which he may become chargeable, by reason of anything contained in either of the two last preceding sections.

As soon as a Board shall have been established under this Act in any district, the provisions of all Acts or Provincial Ordinances relating to roads or highways shall cease to apply to the land comprised in such district, and to the owners and occupiers of land therein; and the ratepayers within such district shall cease to vote at any meeting summoned under the provisions of the last-mentioned Acts or Ordinances in respect of land within such district.

The several places and districts enumerated in the First Schedule to this Act are hereby declared to be town districts under this Act, with the same boundaries as they respectively had at the passing of this Act; and the following provisions shall apply to such places and districts respectively:—

All appointments and offices within any such places shall continue in force until new appointments are made therein under this Act.

The Town Board or Local Board respectively existing within any place enumerated in the First Schedule, at the time of the passing of this Act, shall be deemed to be the same Board as the Board established for any such place under this Act; and every enactment affecting any such first-mentioned Board shall continue in full force in respect of the Board herein secondly mentioned.

The Local Boards in office at the commencement of this Act under the Provincial Ordinance of Wellington intituled “The Local Boards Act, 1873,” shall hold office until the expiration of their term of office, when a new Board shall be elected in their place under this Act.

The Town Boards in office at the aforesaid time under the Provincial Ordinance of Taranaki intituled “The Town Boards of Taranaki Ordinance, 1875,” or any Provincial Ordinance previously in force in Taranaki for constituting such Boards, shall continue in office until the next period occurs after the aforesaid time for the retirement from office of any members of such Boards respectively, under the provisions of the Provincial Ordinance intituled “The Town Board of New Plymouth Ordinance, 1863.”

At such period the whole of the members of such Boards shall go out of office, notwithstanding that the term of office of all the members of such Boards may not have expired, and new Boards shall be elected in their places under the provisions of this Act.

The day of the election of new Boards under this Act, for the places and districts enumerated in the First Schedule, shall be deemed to be the day of the first election within the meaning of this Act; and the Boards to be then elected shall hold office for two years from such day.

The Act and part of an Act, and the Provincial Ordinances, enumerated in the Second Schedule, are hereby repealed.

Every Provincial Ordinance relating to the incorporation of the inhabitants of any locality shall, as soon as such locality is declared to be a town district under this Act, be repealed in so far as such Ordinance affects the said locality.