MCC , Middlesex County Council x Middlesex County Council

Rates are local taxes levied upon the occupiers of property to defray the expenses incurred by county councils and other local authorities in providing services. Up to 1925 there were two classes of rate: the general rate levied by the local council and the poor rate, levied by the Poor Law Guardians. Each rate was levied on the occupiers of all property in the area according to the annual value of the property. This annual value was determined by a committee of the Guardians called the 'assessment committee'. This system meant that the standard of valuation was not uniform throughout the county and that ratepayers might not be contributing equitably towards the cost of services.

The Rating and Valuation Act of 1925 entirely reformed the procedure. The County Council was required to establish a County Valuation Committee for the purpose of securing that as far as possible the standard of assessment throughout the County should be uniform. The local council was made the rating authority for its area. The Act also provided that there should be a general rate levied by each rating authority for the purpose of defraying the whole of the general expenditure within the particular area, so that the poor rate was no longer separately levied. Provision was made for an additional rate, called a 'special rate' to be levied on parts of an area where services were established that were not available elsewhere.

The valuation of property for rating purposes was transferred from local authorities to the Inland Revenue Department by the Local Government Act of 1948.