Title and statement of responsibility area
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Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1864-1916 (Creation)
- Creator
- Victoria (B.C.). Finance Department
Physical description area
Physical description
9.00 m of textual records
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
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Archival description area
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Scope and content
Series consists of assessments on real property and improvements compiled for the purpose of determining taxes.
Available on microfilm in the Archives.
Information on the creation, structure, composition, and relations to other records of the Collector's roll is provided below in four sections: context of creation, structure, data elements, and related records.
Context of Creation
The Colony of Vancouver Island was responsible for the assessment and collection of property taxes in Victoria from 1862 until 1866. From 1867 until the establishment of the British Columbia Assessment Authority in 1974, these functions were the responsibility of the City. Under the City's administration, the general procedure was as follows. Each year the Assessor drew up the assessment roll, sent out notices of assessment to relevant taxpayers, and then forwarded the roll to the City Clerk on behalf of Council. City Council, sitting as the Court of Revision, determined whether revisions to the returned assessment roll were required, made them if necessary, confirmed them, and authenticated the roll. Council then enacted a bylaw for setting yearly tax rates. Following this, the Clerk made out the Collector's roll and forwarded it to the Collector who gathered the taxes, returning his roll to the Clerk when finished, and forwarding the money collected to the Treasurer.
Structure
The assessment rolls provide information on what is to be assessed, how much it is assessed at, when the assessment is made, and to whom the assessment is to be charged. However, based on differences in format, titling, size, arrangement of entries, or status of the roll they can be divided into three chronological groups:
(1) . . 1864-1871
(2) . . 1872-1891
(3) . . 1892-1916
With regard to content, there are some differences within each of these groups. These differences relate to such things as omission of previously used data elements, inclusion of new data elements, alterations in the arrangement of the same data elements, and spelling of the same data elements. Each group provides summary information at end of the last volume within it concerning City of Victoria land holdings. What follows in an overall description of the three main groups listed above.
(1) 1864-1871 . . Lists assessments alphabetically by name of the assessee, rather than numerically by roll number. Some volumes are not titled, data elements are handwritten, and data elements are often located only on the first pages of each volume.
(2) 1872-1891 . . Titled "City of Victoria real estate assessment roll." (The single volume for 1872 and 1873 is transitional between the first group and this one, the numerical arrangement of entries placing it most logically in this group; but note that these assessments have no element for Court of Revision alterations; the title is "Real estate.")
(3) 1892-1916 . . Titled "City of Victoria land and improvement assessment roll." Bylaw 155 of 1892 resulted in the change of title, although both land and improvements were assessed from 1864.
Sample Data Elements:
. . Group 1: 1864-1871
. . 1864-1865
. . Name of Owner
. . Place of Residence
. . No. of Lot
. . No. of Block
. . Street
. . Admeasurement
. . Assessed Value of
. . . . Land
. . . . Improvements
. . Revised Value
. . . . Land
. . . . Improvements
. . Total Value
. . Tax 1%
. . Additional 5%
. . Total Tax Payable
. . 1867
. . Owner' Name
. . Residence
. . No. Lot
. . No. Block
. . Measure
. . Street
. . Assessed Value Land
. . Improvements
. . Total
. . Tax One per Cent
. . Tax on Rate 1/4 of One Per Cent
. . Group 2: 1872-1891
. . 1872-1873
. . Lot
. . Block
. . Admeasurement
. . Street
. . Name
. . Assessed value land
. . [Assessed value] improvements
. . Total value
. . Rate
. . No.
. . No.
. . Amount paid
. . No.
. . Fire rate
. . 1874-1891
. . Lot
. . Block
. . Admeasurement
. . Streets
. . Names
. . Per foot frontage or by acre [1891 only]
. . Land assessments
. . Improved assessments
. . Alterations by Court of Revision
. . Total
. . Arrears
. . Tax
. . Receipts
. . Amount paid
. . Arrears [1890-1891 only]
. . Remarks [handwritten: "notices sent"]
. . Group 3: 1892-1916 (overview)
. . Map no. [1915-1916 only]
. . . . Sub-lot [1912-1916 only; "Subdivision" for 1897-1911]
. . Lot
. . Block
. . Measurement
. . Street
. . Name
. . . . Address [for 1892, between "Amount paid" and "Notices sent"]
. . Price per foot frontage or acre
. . Assessment on land
. . Assessments on improvements
. . Total
. . Alteration by Court of Revision
. . . . Land [1897-1916 only]
. . . . Improvements [1897-1916 only]
. . . . Arrears of taxes [1893-1896 only]
. . Notices sent
. . Remarks
. . 1892
. . Lot
. . Block
. . Measurement
. . Street
. . Name
. . Price per foot frontage or acre
. . Assessment on land
. . Assessments on improvements
. . Alteration by Court of Revision
. . Total
. . Arrears of taxes
. . Amount paid
. . Address
. . Notices sent
. . Remarks
. . 1893-1896
. . Lot
. . Block
. . Measurement
. . Street
. . Name
. . Address
. . Price per foot frontage or acre
. . Assessment on land
. . Assessments on improvements
. . Alteration by Court of Revision
. . Total
. . Arrears of taxes
. . Notices sent
. . Remarks
. . 1897-1911
. . Subdivision
. . Lot
. . Block
. . Measurement
. . Street
. . Name
. . Address
. . Price per foot frontage or acre
. . Assessment on land
. . Assessments on improvements
. . Total
. . Alteration by Court of Revision
. . . . Land
. . . . Improvements
. . Notices sent
. . Remarks
. . 1912-1914
. . Sub-lot
. . Lot
. . Block
. . Measurement
. . Street
. . Name
. . Address
. . Price per foot frontage or acre
. . Assessment on land
. . Assessments on improvements
. . Total
. . Alteration by Court of Revision
. . . . Land
. . . . Improvements
. . Notices sent
. . Remarks
. . 1915-1916
. . Map no.
. . Sub-lot
. . Lot
. . Block
. . Measurement
. . Street
. . Name
. . Address
. . Price per foot frontage or acre
. . Assessment on land
. . Assessments on improvements
. . Total
. . Alteration by Court of Revision
. . . . Land
. . . . Improvements
. . Notices sent
. . Remarks
Related Series
The volumes dating from 1864 to 1916 are the official record of City land assessments, and contain annotations and other supplementary information not found in Collector's rolls in CRS 143 (1889-1916). Although working documents, the assessment volumes dating from 1916 to 1929 often include annotations relating to transfers of land and other matters not generally found in the final rolls. As such they provide a useful supplement to the much-used official series, which is found in CRS 145 (Assessors and Collectors roll, 1917-1948)
Notes area
Physical condition
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Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
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BCAUL control number: CVIC-CRS-150