CAP. 87 TOWN COUNCILS ACT BELIZE
TOWN COUNCILS ACT
CHAPTER 87
REVISED EDITION 2000
SHOWING THE LAW AS AT 31ST DECEMBER, 2000
This is a revised edition of the law, prepared by the Law Revision Commissioner
under the authority of the Law Revision Act, Chapter 3 of the Laws of Belize,
Revised Edition 1980-1990.
This edition contains a consolidation of the following laws- Page
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 3
TOWN COUNCILS ACT 7 Amendments in force as at 31st December, 2000.
BELIZE
TOWN COUNCILS ACT
CHAPTER 87
REVISED EDITION 2000
SHOWING THE LAW AS AT 31ST DECEMBER, 2000
This is a revised edition of the law, prepared by the Law Revision Commissioner
under the authority of the Law Revision Act, Chapter 3 of the Laws of Belize,
Revised Edition 1980-1990.
This edition contains a consolidation of the following laws- Page
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 3
TOWN COUNCILS ACT 7 Amendments in force as at 31st December, 2000.
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CHAPTER 87
TOWN COUNCILS
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
PART I
Preliminary
1. Short title.
2. Interpretation.
PART II
Constitution, etc., of a Council
Term of Council, Members, their Qualifications, etc.
3. Constitution of a Council.
4. Term of office of a Council.
5. Date of general election.
6. Qualification of members.
7. Disqualification of certain persons from being members.
8. Penalty for person incapable of election, or of person whose seat has
become vacant, who sits and votes.
9. Vacation of seat.
10. Direct election of Mayor.
11. Leave of absence.
12. Power to fix allowances.
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PART III
Appointment of Officers and Employees
and Conditions of Service
13. Appointment of officers and employees of a Council and conditions
of service.
14. Penalty on officers for taking gratuity.
PART IV
Elections
15. Persons entitled to vote at elections to constitute a new Council.
16. Regulations relating to elections.
17. Regulations relating to election expenses.
18. Returning Officer and Election Clerks.
PART V
Council Meetings and Proceedings
19. A Council may make regulations to regulate meetings.
20. Vacancy not to invalidate meetings.
PART VI
The Town Fund
21. Establishment of a Town Fund for every town and monies constituting
the Fund.
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PART VII
Financial Provisions
22. Loans, when and how raised.
23. Submission of estimates of revenue and expenditure.
PART VIII
Duties and Powers of Every Council
Streets and Adjoining Lands
24. General powers as to streets, etc.
25. A Council’s power to coordinate activities of utility agencies.
26. Penalties for injuries to streets, etc.
27. Duty to fence or repair fences in certain cases.
28. A Council may require owner to erect fence.
General Powers and Duties
29. Duties of every Council.
30. Additional general duties of every Council.
PART IX
Pensions
Preliminary
31. Interpretation of words and phrases used in this Part.
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General Provisions Relating to Pensions
32. Pensions to be charges on revenues of a Council.
33. Pensions not of right.
34. Computation of service for pension.
35. Retirement at fifty-five.
36. Pensions not payable before fifty-five years except in certain cases.
37. Maximum pensions.
38. Pensions; to whom and at what rate to be granted.
39. Period of service qualifying for pension defined.
40. A Council may apply part of a person’s pension towards the mainte-
nance of his wife or children.
41. Pensions not to be assignable.
42. Lump sum gratuity with reduced pension.
43. Payment of pension/gratuity upon resignation.
44. Gratuity where service does not qualify for pension.
45. Gratuity for female officer.
Manner of Computing Pensions
46. Pensionable service.
47. Computation of pensions etc., on what emoluments to be based.
48. Pensions Regulations.
PART X
Legal and General
49. General powers of every Council to make by-laws.
50. By-laws prescribing fees.
51. Admissibility in evidence of documents signed by Mayor or Town
Administrator.
52. Prosecutions to be instituted by Mayor or Town Administrator.
53. Proof of legal proceedings.
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54. Land, how acquired.
55. A Council may cause work to be executed in case of default.
56. Members of a Council not liable personally.
57. Protection of Council officials.
58. Expenses of a Council, how met.
59. Additional powers and functions of a Council.
60. Recovery of penalties.
61. Regulations.
62. Commencement.
63. Repeals and savings.
SCHEDULE
CHAPTER 87
TOWN COUNCILS
[4th August, 1999]
PART I
Preliminary
1. This Act may be cited as the Town Councils Act, 1999.
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:-
Short title
Interpretation
29 of 1999.
Commencement
[1. 12. 1999]
S.I.114 of 1999.
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“allowance” means money payable under this Act to a councillor during the
time he is a member of a Town Council;
“Council” means a Town Council constituted under this Act;
“general election” means an election held by reason of the expiration of the
term of office of a Council;
“member” means a member of a Council and includes the Mayor;
“Minister” means the Minister for the time being responsible for the subject of
Local Government unless otherwise specified;
“new Council” means a Council newly constituted after a general election;
“rules”, “regulations” or “by-laws” means any rules, regulations or by-laws
made under this Act;
“town” means a town mentioned and described in the Schedule to this Act or
added to the said Schedule hereafter by the Minister, the limits of which are as
defined by the Minister after consultation with the Council of that town by
Order (for the time being in force) published in the Gazette, which Order the
Minister is hereby empowered from time to time to make;
“Town Fund” means the fund established in respect of a town under section
21 of this Act;
“voter” means a person registered as a voter in accordance
with this Act.
Schedule.
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PART II
Constitution, etc., of the Council
Term of Council, Members, their Qualifications, etc.
3. (1) There shall be and is hereby constituted and established in every town
a Council to be known as “The Town Council” of the town in respect of which
it is constituted and appointed, and such Council shall be a body corporate with
perpetual succession and a common seal.
(2) The Council shall have capacity to acquire, hold and dispose of real and
personal property and to sue and be sued in all courts of law.
(3) The Council shall consist of a Mayor and six other members duly elected
in accordance with this Act and regulations made thereunder.
(4) The Council is lawfully constituted when the requisite number of mem-
bers has been elected.
(5) No temporary vacancy caused by death or otherwise shall affect the
validity of any proceedings of the Council.
4. (1) Every Council shall hold office until the last day of February next ensuing
after the day on which the Council has been two years in office:
Provided that the Council elected to office in the general election held in
the month of March, 2000, shall hold office until the last day of February,
2003.
(2) If during the term of office of the Council, a member’s seat becomes
vacant, the vacancy shall be filled by a by-election within ninety days:
Provided that a vacancy shall not be filled if it occurs within a period of
Constitution
of a Council.
Term of office of
a Council.
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one year before the time when the seat which is vacated would ordinarily have
been vacated.
5. An election of members of every Council shall be held on the first
Wednesday next ensuing after the day on which the term of office of the
Council expires.
6. No person shall be capable of being elected as a member of a
Council who is not a Belizean citizen and a registered voter of that town.
7. (1) No person shall be eligible for election as a member of a Council, or
having been elected, shall sit or vote on the Council, who:-
(a) holds an office of emolument or place of profit in the gift or
disposal of the Council; or
(b) has directly or indirectly by himself or his partner, any share or
interest in any contract with the Council; or
(c) is in the employment of the Council; or
(d) has, in Belize or any other Commonwealth country, been sen-
tenced to death or to imprisonment (by whatever name called)
for a term exceeding twelve months and has not either suffered
the punishment to which he was sentenced or such other pun-
ishment as may by competent authority have been substituted
therefor or received a free pardon; or
(e) is a person adjudged to be of unsound mind or detained as a
criminal lunatic under any law in force in Belize; or
(f) is a public officer, other than a teacher or an open vote worker;
or
Disqualification of
certain persons
from being
members.
Qualification of
members.
Date of general
election.
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(g) is a returning officer for an election of members of the Council;
or
(h) has not ordinarily resided in the town for which the Council is
being elected for at least one year immediately preceding the
date of the election, or is not domiciled in Belize or ordinarily
resident therein at the date of the election; or
(i) is or becomes a member of the National Assembly or of any
Commission established by or under the Belize Constitution.
(2) For the purposes of this section, a person shall not be disqualified from
being a member by reason of his being interested in -
(a) any contract in respect of which the Minister shall remove the
disqualification if he is of the opinion that such removal will be of
public benefit; or
(b) any newspaper in which any advertisement relating to the affairs
of the Council is inserted; or
(c) any contract with the Council as a shareholder in any joint stock
company, but he shall not vote at any meeting of the Council on
any question in which such company is interested.
(3) The office of Mayor of every Council and the office of a member are
declared not to be offices of emolument or places of profit in the gift or disposal
of the Council although remuneration may be paid to such Mayor and member
out of moneys provided by the Council.
(4) A person shall not be considered as holding an office of emolument or
place of profit in the gift or disposal of a Council or as being in the employment
of the Council or as holding a public office by reason only of the fact that he is
in receipt of a pension of other like allowance in respect of service under the
CAP. 4.
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Council or the Public Service, or that he holds a general retainer as solicitor of
the Council.
8. Any person who-
(a) having been returned as an elected member of a Council with-
out having been at the time of his election qualified to be an
elected member, or having since his election become disquali-
fied in pursuance of section 7 above from sitting and voting,
sits or votes on the Council; or
(b) sits or votes on a Council after his seat has become vacant
under section 9 below,
shall, for every day on which he sits or votes after his seat has become vacant,
be liable to a fine of one hundred dollars to be recovered by action in the
Supreme Court by any person who, with the written consent of the Attorney
General, sues for it.
9. If any elected member of a Council:-
(a) dies; or
(b) by writing under his hand addressed to the Mayor, or in the
case of the Mayor, to the Deputy Mayor, resigns his seat on
the Council; or
(c) makes any declaration or acknowledgment of allegiance to
any foreign state or power which does not recognize dual na-
tionality or is hostile to Belize; or
(d) becomes a citizen or subject of any foreign state or power,
which does not recognize dual nationality or is hostile to
Belize; or
Penalty for
person incapable
of election, or of
person whose
seat has
become vacant,
who sits or
votes.
Vacation of
seat.
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(e) is sentenced in Belize or any other Commonwealth country
to death, penal servitude or imprisonment for a term exceed-
ing twelve months; or
(f) accepts any office of emolument in the Public Service or
under another Town Council or a City Council in Belize; or
(g) becomes a member of the National Assembly or of any
Commission-established under the Belize Constitution; or
(h) subject to section 11 below, is absent without leave or other
reasonable cause from four consecutive meetings of the
Council; or
(i) becomes subject to any of the disqualifications specified in
sections 6 and 7 above,
his seat on the Council shall thereupon become vacant.
10. (1) The Mayor shall be directly elected by the electorate from among per-
sons who offer themselves as candidates for Mayor in a general election held to
elect a new Council.
(2) At the first meeting of the Council after every general election to consti-
tute a new Council, the members of the Council shall elect a Deputy Mayor
from among their number.
(3) Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of Mayor through death, res-
ignation or otherwise, the Deputy Mayor shall, subject to sections 6, 7 and 9
above, act as Mayor for the remainder of the term of office of the Council.
(4) During the illness or absence on leave of the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor
shall exercise and perform all powers and duties conferred upon the Mayor by
Direct election
of mayor
CAP.4.
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this Act and regulations made thereunder.
(5) The Deputy Mayor may at any time during his term of office be re-
moved from office at a meeting of the Council by a majority resolution of the
members of the Council present and voting at that meeting, and a new Deputy
Mayor may be elected for the unexpired term of office of the Council by the
members of the Council from among their number.
(6) Notice of a resolution under subsection (5) above shall be given to all
the members of the Council not less than fourteen days before the meeting at
which the resolution is proposed.
(7) The Mayor shall, subject to the provisions of this Act and any Regu-
lations made thereunder, be the chief executive officer of the Council and shall
be responsible for providing effective leadership and direction for the Council,
and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, shall be responsible for:-
(a) developing sister-city or sister-town relations with other cities or
towns within and outside Belize;
(b) supervising the town administrator and ensuring that the town ad-
ministrator implements the decisions of the Council;
(c) subject to section 11 (1) below, granting leave of absence to mem-
bers of the Council;
(d) assigning members of the Council, subject to his direction and con-
trol, with specific areas of responsibility in the management of the
town’s affairs in such areas as environmental protection, revenue
collection, town zoning, planning and urban infrastructure, town
sanitation, public health and market management, tourist promo-
tion and development, coordination of public utilities, crime and
drug reduction and prevention, recreational planning and develop
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ment, development of sports and culture, traffic control and man-
agement, and coordination of relations and activities between the
town, the Government of Belize, non-governmental organisations
and civil society organisations;
(e) ensuring that Council meetings are open to the public, unless he
directs otherwise;
(f) submitting for the consideration of the residents of the town, through
notices in a newspaper in general circulation in the town, or through
publications on radio and on television and at meetings held pursu-
ant to paragraph (g) below, at least once every three months during
the term of office of the Council, sufficiently detailed reports show-
ing the developmental and other activities undertaken by the Coun-
cil for the benefit of the residents of the town;
(g) arranging, at least once every six months, during the term of office of
the Council, meetings where the residents of the town may meet the
members of the Council and may submit, orally or in writing, any
subjects or areas they feel should be addressed by the Council in
the administration and management of the town;
(h) ensuring that the Council discharges the duties imposed upon it by
or under this Act;
(i) such other areas in the administration and management of the town
as the Council may, by two-thirds majority resolution, decide to
confer on him.
11.(1) The Mayor may, with the concurrence of four other members, grant
leave of absence to any member for a period not exceeding six months.
(2) A Council may grant to the Mayor leave of absence not exceeding six
months.
Leave of absence.
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12.(1) Every Council may by resolution fix an allowance to be paid to mem-
bers from monies constituting the Town Fund of the town administered by
the Council.
PART III
Appointment of Officers and Employees
and Conditions of Service
13.(1) Every Council shall appoint a suitably qualified person as Town Ad-
ministrator who shall assist the Mayor in the day to day management of the
affairs of the Council and the town.
(2) The Council may appoint such other suitably qualified officers and
employees as it thinks necessary for the efficient administration of the affairs
of its town.
(3) The power to remove, promote, or take disciplinary action against
officers and employees of a Council, including the Town Administrator, shall
be and is hereby vested in the Council which appointed them.
(4) The Council may pay its officers and employees such salaries, allow-
ances, pensions, gratuities and other benefits out of the Town Fund for its
town as it considers necessary.
14. Every officer or employee employed for the purposes of this Act who
exacts or accepts on account of anything done relating to his duties any fee
or reward whatever other than the salary or allowance ordered or allowed
by the Council is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to
a fine of not less than two thousand dollars nor more than ten thousand
dollars or to imprisonment for a period of not less than one year nor more
than five years, or to both such fine and period of imprisonment.
Appointment of
officers and
employees of a
Council and
conditions of
service.
Penalty on
officers for
taking gratuity.
Power to fix
allowances.
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PART IV
Elections
15.(1) Every person who-
(a) is registered as an elector under the Representation of the
People Act; and
(b) subject to subsection (2) below, is in possession of an
identification card issued to him under that Act; and
(c) has continuously resided in the town for which the elections are
held for a period of at least three months,
shall be entitled to vote at the election of a member of the Council for the town
in which he resides and is registered.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) above, a person who has been regis-
tered under the Representation of the People Act, but who is unable to pro-
duce his identification card, shall be permitted to vote upon proving to the
satisfaction of the presiding officer that although he has been registered he has
not been issued with an identification card or that the identification card issued
to him has been lost or destroyed.
(3) Where a person is permitted to vote under subsection (2) above, the
presiding officer shall so state to the candidates or agents then present in the
polling station, and also make a record of his reasons for so doing and shall
maintain a list of the names and registration numbers of the electors voting
without producing their identification cards, showing the number of the ballot
paper issued to each of them.
Persons entitled
to vote at
elections to
constitute a
new Council. CAP. 9.
CAP.9.
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16.(1) The Elections and Boundaries Commission may, after consultation with
representatives of civil society organisations and other interested bodies, make
regulations:-
(a) to provide for the registration of electors;
(b) to provide for the holding of elections and by-elections of mem-
bers of every Council;
(c) to provide for the conduct of elections of members of every
Council;
(d) to prohibit any act or matter which in its opinion is not conducive
to the maintenance of order on polling day;
(e) to declare any act committed in the course of any campaign for
election or at an election, an election offence;
(f) to declare the grounds upon which an election may be challenged
and the persons who may challenge an election;
(g) to declare the grounds upon which an election may be avoided
and the procedure for challenging an election;
(h) to provide for the trial of election petitions and matters connected
therewith including the deposit of security and the award of costs;
(i) to prescribe the form of the ballot papers and sample ballot papers;
(j) to provide for the custody and disposal of ballot papers;
(k) to prescribe the method of marking voters at elections;
(l) to provide for penalties for the breach of any regulation; and
Regulations
relating to elections.
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(m) to prescribe for all such other matters relating to elections
as may be necessary for the carrying out of the provisions of
this Act.
(2) Contraventions of any regulations made under subsection (1) above
may be declared by the Elections and Boundaries Commission to be illegal
practices, and provision may be made in the said regulations for the punishment
on summary conviction, of persons committing or aiding, abetting, inciting, tak-
ing part or attempting to take part in the commission of such illegal practices,
by:-
(a) a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars; and
(b) disqualification from voting at any election under this Act, the
Belize City Council Act, the Representation of the People
Act, the Village Councils Act, and from being elected or ap-
pointed, as the case may be, as a member of a City Council,
Town Council, Village Council or of the National Assembly
for a period of three years from the date of his conviction.
(3) Regulations made by the Election and Boundaries Commission under
this section shall be laid on the table of the House of Representatives by the
Minister as soon as may be after the making thereof and shall be subject to
negative resolution.
17.(1) The Minister may make regulations -
(a) with respect to the incurring of expense and the making of
payments by or on behalf of a candidate, whether before,
during or after an election, on account of or in respect of, the
conduct or management of such election;
CAP. 85.
CAP.9.
CAP. 88.
Regulations
relating to election
expenses.
CAP. 87]
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(b) requiring the appointment of an election agent through or by
whom all expenses or payments as mentioned in paragraph
(a) above shall be incurred or made;
(c) fixing the maximum amount of expenses that may be incurred
or paid, whether before, during or after an election, on ac-
count, or in respect of the conduct or management of such
election;
(d) fixing the time within which all election expenses shall be
paid and barring all claims in respect thereof not made within
the prescribed time; and
(e) requiring a return of expenses and prescribing the form in
which the same shall be made and verified.
(2) Contraventions of regulations made under subsection (1) above may
be declared by the Minister to be illegal practices, and provision may be made
in the said regulations for the punishment on summary conviction, of persons
committing or aiding, abetting, inciting, attempting to take part or taking part in
the commission of such illegal practices, by:-
(a) a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars; and
(b) disqualification from voting at any election under this Act,
the Belize City Council Act, the Representation of the People
Act, the Village Councils Act, and from being elected or
appointed, as the case may be, as a member of a City Coun-
cil, Town Council, Village Council or of the National As-
sembly for a period of three years from the date of his con-
viction.
(3) Regulations made by the Minister pursuant to this section shall be sub-
ject to negative resolution by the House of Representatives.
CAP. 85.
CAP. 9.
CAP.88.
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(4) An election petition may be presented in respect of any illegal
practice declared by such regulations to be the grounds for the presentation of
any such petition.
18.(1) For the purposes of holding an election, the Elections and Boundaries
Commission established under section 88 of the Belize Constitution shall, from
time to time and as occasion demands, appoint a person to be the Returning
Officer for the town in respect of which an election is held, and may appoint
one or more persons to assist the Returning Officer in the performance of his
duties. A person so appointed to assist the Returning Officer shall have all the
powers and may perform all the duties of the officer he is appointed to assist,
and any reference in this Act or regulations made thereunder to a Returning
Officer shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be deemed to include a
reference to every such person.
(2) The Chief Elections Officer shall, with the approval of the Commis-
sion, appoint an Election Clerk and one or more Assistant Clerks for each
town where an election is held. If at any time between the dissolution of a
Council and the declaration of the result of the election following thereon the
Returning Officer dies or becomes incapable of performing his duties as such,
the Election Clerk shall forthwith report that fact to the Chief Elections Officer
and shall discharge all the duties and exercise all the powers of the Returning
Officer until some other Returning Officer is appointed or the Returning Officer
ceases to be incapable of performing his duties, as the case may be.
(3) An appointment made under subsections (1) and (2) may be revoked at
any time.
PART V
Council Meetings and Proceedings
19.(1) Every Council may from time to time make regulations to regulate Council
Returning Officer
and Election
Clerks.
CAP. 4.
A Council may
make regulations
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meetings and proceedings, and the meetings and proceedings of any Commit-
tees established by the Council.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) above, such regu-
lations may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:-
(a) the regulation of the proceedings of the Council and of Com-
mittees and the conduct of meetings thereof respectively;
(b) the regulation of the time and manner of holding annual and
other stated and also ordinary meetings of the Council and
regulating the business that may be transacted thereat respec-
tively;
(c) the provision of the custody of documents and regulation of
the custody, and use, and mode and form of attestation of the
common seal of the Council;
(d) the regulation of the duties of the Council’s officers and ser-
vants;
(e) the procedure to be followed at the election of
Deputy Mayor;
(f) the places at which ordinary and special meetings of the Council
may be held;
(g) the procedure for convening meetings of the Council;
(h) the period of notice to be given to members before a meeting
of the Council;
(i) the person who shall preside at meetings of the Council;
to regulate
meetings.
THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF BELIZE REVISED EDITION 2000
Printed by the Government Printer,
No. 1 Power Lane,
Belmopan, by the authority of
the Government of Belize.
[CAP. 87 23
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Town Councils
(j) the quorum for meetings of the Council and the manner of
voting thereat;
(k) the prohibition of any member of the Council or of a Commit-
tee from taking part in any discussion or voting in respect of
any matter in which he is directly or indirectly interested;
(l) the maintenance of order at meetings of the Council;
(m) the rights of certain persons to attend meetings of the Council
and the powers and privileges of such persons while in
attendance; and
(n) anything incidental to or connected with the matters referred
to in this subsection.
(3) Regulations made by any Council under this section shall be subject
to negative resolution by the House of Representatives.
(4) Notwithstanding any other rule of law to the contrary, Council
meetings shall be open to the public unless otherwise directed by the Mayor.
20. The proceedings of every Council or of any Committee thereof shall
not be invalidated by any vacancy among its members, or the want of qualifica-
tion of a member.
PART VI
The Town Fund
21.(1) There shall be and is hereby established for the purposes of every Council
established and constituted under this Act, a fund to be known as “the Town
Fund” of the town for which the Council is responsible for administering, into
which shall be deposited or credited:-
Vacancy not to
invalidate
meetings.
Establishment
of Town Fund for
every town and
monies constitut-
ing the fund.
CAP. 87]
THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF BELIZE REVISED EDITION 2000
Printed by the Government Printer,
No. 1 Power Lane,
Belmopan, by the authority of
the Government of Belize.
24
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Town Councils
(a) all monies voted from time to time by the National Assembly for
the use by the Council in the administration of the town;
(b) all monies payable in any manner whatsoever to the Council whether
under or pursuant to this Act or regulations made thereunder or
otherwise;
(c) all fines and penalties recovered summarily on the information of
the Council or of any officer, servant or member thereof for non-
compliance with the provisions of this or any other Act or rules,
regulations and by-laws of the Council for the time being in force.
(2) The Town Fund of each Council shall be kept at such banks or
other financial institutions as each Council may from time to time determine.
PART VII
Financial Provisions
22.(1) Whenever the general interest and welfare or development of any town
will, in the opinion of two-thirds of the members of the Council, be advanced
by an expenditure greater than can be met out of the annual revenue of the
Town Fund, the Council of that town may, by resolution carried by its major-
ity, recommend to the Minister for the time being responsible for Finance, on
the guarantee of an annual allocation of such amount of the Town Fund as may
be equivalent to the annual interest and sinking fund necessary for its redemp-
tion, the raising of a loan, the proceeds of which shall be devoted to such
development.
(2) Upon such recommendation, the Minister for the time being respon-
sible for Finance may borrow such sum of money as may be authorised under
the Local Public Loans Act, and thereafter the sum necessary to meet the
Loans, when and
how raised.
CAP. 80.
THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF BELIZE REVISED EDITION 2000
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Belmopan, by the authority of
the Government of Belize.
[CAP. 87 25
[ ]
Town Councils
annual interest and sinking fund for the redemption of the loan shall be a first
charge upon all monies which may then or thereafter form part of the Town
Fund:
Provided that:-
(a) it shall be lawful for the Minister for the time being responsible
for Finance to advance from the public funds of Belize any sum
required by the Council for a short period when the said Min-
ister is satisfied that the Council will be able from its ordinary
revenue to repay the amount advanced within a period of six
months from the date of such advance;
(b) the Minister for the time being responsible for Finance may,
with the approval of the House of Representatives, at any time
make an advance to the Council from the public funds of Belize
on such conditions as he may think fit.
23.(1) Every Council shall, before the end of January in each year, submit to the
Minister for the time being responsible for Finance, through the Minister, an
estimate of revenue and expenditure for the period of one year commencing
from 1st April then next ensuing and the Minister for the time being responsible
for Finance may issue his warrant for the whole or such part of the lawful ex-
penditure as he may approve, subject to such conditions as to him may seem fit.
(2) The estimates submitted by a Council under subsection (1) above shall
as soon as possible after receipt thereof by the Minister for the time being
responsible for Finance be laid by him on the table of the National Assembly.
(3) The Minister for the time being responsible for Finance may, at any
time when a matter appears to him to be of sufficient urgency, permit a Council
to incur any lawful expenditure not provided in the approved estimates, and
shall as soon as possible thereafter inform the National Assembly that such
Submission of
estimates of
revenue and
expenditure.
CAP. 87]
THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF BELIZE REVISED EDITION 2000
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the Government of Belize.
26
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Town Councils
additional expenditure has been approved.
(4) In this section, “lawful expenditure” means expenditure incurred in the
exercise of any of the powers or performance of any of the duties conferred or
imposed on a Council by any existing or future legislation.
(5) A Council may from time to time make regulations prescribing the
manner in which the accounts of the Council are to be kept and disburse-
ments made, and for the audit of the accounts of the Council by auditors duly
approved by the Council.
PART VIII
Duties and Powers of Every Council
Streets and Adjoining Lands
24.(1) All streets, in which term is included public drains and bridges within
the boundaries of a town, shall be under the control, care and management of
the Council for that town.
(2) The Council is empowered in respect of any street to do any of the
following things:-
(a) to lay out, construct, repair, alter or widen all streets with
such material and in such manner as the Council thinks fit;
(b) to make surveys for the laying out of new streets;
(c) to determine what part of a street shall be a carriage-way
and what part a foot-way only;
(d) to alter the level of any street;
General powers as
to street, etc.
THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF BELIZE REVISED EDITION 2000
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Belmopan, by the authority of
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[CAP. 87 27
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Town Councils
(e) to stop temporarily the traffic on any street or part thereof
while such street is being constructed or repaired;
(f) to plant trees in any street in the town and erect tree guards
to protect the same;
(g) to provide for the naming, numbering and lighting of places
and streets; and
(h) to sell the surplus spoil of streets.
(3) The Council shall exercise the power to make any new street or di-
vert or widen or diminish the width or alter the level of any street only after
inserting a notice to that effect in the Gazette and on radio and television at
least four weeks previously to the date of the exercise of such power, inviting
the residents of its town to make representations in writing to the Council in
connection with the exercise of the power. The Council shall, before exercising
the power, genuinely consider and take into account the representations, if any,
made by the residents of its town, but shall not be obliged to follow them.
(4) Subject to subsection (6) below, the Council may by resolution de-
clare that any existing street shall be closed, diverted or turned, and that some
other shorter or more convenient course shall be substituted for any street so
closed, diverted or turned as the public advantage may require.
(5) Whenever it appears to the Council that having regard to the limited
use made of any street, the closing thereof without the provision of any other
course will not result in serious handicap, difficulty or inconvenience to the
public, the Council may, subject to subsection (6) below, by resolution declare
that the street be closed without ordering that any other street be
substituted therefor.
(6) Before proceeding to exercise the powers conferred upon it under
subsections (4) and (5) above, the Council shall insert a notice in the Gazette
CAP. 87]
THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF BELIZE REVISED EDITION 2000
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the Government of Belize.
28
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Town Councils
and on radio and television at least four weeks previously to the exercise of
the said powers, and shall in that notice invite the residents of its town to make
written representations to it in connection with the proposed exercise of such
powers. The Council shall,before exercising the powers, genuinely consider
and take into account the representations, if any, made by the residents of its
town, but shall not be obliged to follow them.
(7) The Council shall, in addition to the powers specified in this section,
enjoy such further additional powers in respect of public roads and streets
within its town as are conferred upon it by or under the Public Roads Act.
25. (1) Without prejudice to any other powers conferred on the Council by
this Act or any other law, the Council shall have the power and responsibility
of coordinating the activities and operations of all utility agencies and property
developers within its town with respect to the excavation and restoration of
streets, canals, creeks and other public rights of way, with the object of pre-
venting damage to the town infrastructure and minimizing the disruption of
utility services within the town.
(2) Where any damage or injury to the infrastructure of the town is caused
by a utility agency or the Council in the excavation and restoration of any
public road, street, canal, creek and other public right of way, the Council
shall be responsible, subject to subsection (3) below, to make good such
damage or injury and to restore the infrastructure to a good state of general
repair.
(3) Where the Council incurs extraordinary expenses in repairing the in-
frastructure by reason of the damage or injury to any street, road, canal, creek
and other right of public way caused under subsection (2) above or by exces-
sive weight passing along such street, road, canal, creek or other right of pub-
lic way or extraordinary traffic thereon, the Council may recover the expenses
from any person by whose order such damage or injury has been caused, as a
civil debt in any summary jurisdiction court.
CAP.232.
A Council’s
power to coordi-
nate activities of
utility agencies.
THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF BELIZE REVISED EDITION 2000
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Belmopan, by the authority of
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[CAP. 87 29
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Town Councils
(4) For the purpose of subsection (1) above, the Council may make by-
laws to control and regulate the activities and operations of utility agencies.
(5) There shall be established within every town’s administration a Utility
Coordination Unit with power to ensure effective coordination between all util-
ity agencies and to enforce by-laws made pursuant to subsection (4) above.
(6) In this section, the expression “utility agencies” means all corporations,
companies and entities which provide electricity, water and sewerage, tele-
phone, telefax, gas and other utility services.
(7) The provisions of this section shall have effect notwithstanding the
provisions of any other law to the contrary.
26.(1) Any person who, not being authorised by a Council or by any law:-
(a) encroaches on a street or other public right of way by making
or erecting any building, fence, ditch, or other obstacle or work
of any kind upon, over or under it or planting any tree or shrub
thereon;
(b) places or leaves on a street any timber, earth, stones or other
things;
(c) digs up, removes or alters in any way the soil or surface or
scrapings of a street or other public right of way;
(d) allows any water, tailings or sludge or any filthy or noisome
matter to flow from any building or land in his occupation on to
a street or other public right of way;
(e) causes or permits any timber or other heavy material not being
wholly raised above the ground on wheels to be dragged on a
street or other public right of way;
Penalties for
injuries to
streets, etc.
CAP. 87]
THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF BELIZE REVISED EDITION 2000
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30
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Town Councils
(f) causes or negligently allows any retaining-wall, foundation-
wall or fence erected on any land or slope of earth or any
building, erection, material or thing to give way or fall so as to
injure or obstruct any street or other public right of way;
(g) does or causes or permits to be done any act whatever by
which any injury is done to any street or other public right of
way or any work or thing in, or under, it; or
(h) defaces, obliterates or removes any number, mark or name
painted or affixed on any lot, house, building, street or square,
is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceed-
ing five hundred dollars and to a further sum equal to the costs incurred by the
Council of the town where the offence occurs in removing the encroachment,
obstruction or matter, or in repairing any injury done as specified in para-
graphs (a) to (h) above.
(2) No penalty shall be imposed under this section unless the information
or complaint is laid by the authority of the Council of the town where the
offence occurs or some officer thereof.
27. If any land adjoining any street within the boundaries of a town is
allowed to remain unfenced or if the fences of such land are allowed to be or
remain out of repair and the land is, owing to the absence or inadequate repair
of any such fence, a source of danger to passengers, cyclists or pedestrians,
or is used for any immoral or indecent purpose, or for any purpose causing
inconvenience or annoyance to the public, the Council responsible for admin-
istering the town may, at any time after the expiration of fourteen days from the
service upon the owner or occupier of such land of a notice in writing by the
Council requiring the land to be fenced or any fence on the land to be re-
paired, cause the land to be fenced or the fences thereto to be repaired in a
manner it thinks fit, and the reasonable expenses thereby incurred shall be
Duty to fence or
repair fences in
certain cases.
THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF BELIZE REVISED EDITION 2000
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Belmopan, by the authority of
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[CAP. 87 31
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Town Councils
recoverable from the owner or occupier summarily as a civil debt.
28.(1) Every Council may, by notice in writing to the owner of any land situate
in its town, require such owner, within a reasonable time specified in such no-
tice, to cause a sufficient fence to be erected in the public interest dividing the
land from any adjoining street or to cause any fence dividing the land from any
adjoining street to be restored, repaired or otherwise put in a proper state of
repair.
(2) An owner who makes default in complying with the requirements of
any notice served upon him under this section is liable to a fine of fifty dollars for
every day that the default continues after written notice thereof from the Coun-
cil.
General Powers and Duties
29. Every Council is entrusted with the general rule and good government
of its town and has power, subject to the provisions of this Part, to do all things
necessary to carry out such trust and in particular has power and authority to
do or cause to be done all or any of the matters following -
(a) to establish, regulate, control, maintain and manage markets,
slaughter-houses, bath-houses and wash-houses;
(b) to impose rents and fees upon persons using or benefitted by
such markets, slaughter-houses and wash-houses;
(c) to impose such restrictions upon owners of land as may be
necessary to prevent any building upon such land from being
or becoming a source of danger to surrounding property
whether from fire or from its insecure construction or dilapi
dated condition;
Duties of every
Council.
A Council may
require owner to
erect fence.
CAP. 87]
THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF BELIZE REVISED EDITION 2000
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32
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Town Councils
(d) to undertake the marking and numbering of lots, houses, buildings
and yards for the purpose of distinguishing the same;
(e) to establish, maintain and control parks, gardens, squares and open
places within the town;
(f) to erect and maintain any townhall or other building required for
public purposes;
(g) to establish, maintain and control a public library;
(h) to manage and dispose of any lands, buildings or other property
acquired or owned by the Council for public purposes;
(i) to do all such other things or matters for the purpose of increasing
the convenience and amenity of the town.
30. Without prejudice to any powers conferred upon, or duties imposed
on, any Council by this or any other Act or regulations made thereunder,
every Council shall have the obligation to perform the following duties in its
town in an efficient and timely manner:-
(a) to maintain all public cemeteries in its town in a sanitary manner
and to keep such cemeteries in a general state of good repair;
(b) to coordinate, control, manage or regulate the timely and efficient
collection and removal of all garbage material from all residential
or commercial areas in its town;
(c) to construct, repair, alter, widen, lay out and make surveys for
streets in its town, especially in new residential or commercial ar-
eas;
(d) to repair, cleanse and keep clean and in good repair, all or any part
Additional
general duties of
every Council.
THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF BELIZE REVISED EDITION 2000
Printed by the Government Printer,
No. 1 Power Lane,
Belmopan, by the authority of
the Government of Belize.
[CAP. 87 33
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Town Councils
of the walls of any public drain, canal or creek in its town, but this
duty shall not be construed as compelling the Council to cleanse any
public drain, canal or creek at times when the public health would in
the opinion of the Council be endangered by the operation.
PART IX
Pensions
Preliminary
31. In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires:-
“officer” means a person who is on the permanent established staff of a Coun-
cil;
“pensionable emoluments” includes salary and personal allowance;
“personal allowance” means a special addition to salary granted personally to
the holder for the time being of the office;
“salary” means the actual salary attached to an office.
General Provisions Relating to Pensions
32. There shall be charged on and paid out of the revenues of every Coun-
cil all sums of money as may be granted by way of pension to an officer in
accordance with this Part and regulations made thereunder.
33. (1) No officer shall have an absolute right to a pension under this Act nor
shall anything contained in this Act limit the right of a Council to dismiss an
officer in its service without a pension or to operate without a pension scheme.
(2) Where it is established to the satisfaction of a Council that an officer in
Interpretation
of words and
phrases used in
this Part.
Pensions to be
charges on
revenues of a
Council.
Pensions not of
right.
CAP. 87]
THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF BELIZE REVISED EDITION 2000
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34
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Town Councils
its service has been guilty of negligence, irregularity or misconduct, the officer’s
pension may be reduced or altogether withheld.
34. Subject to section 44, all the service of an officer, including service on
probation or agreement if there has been no breach between such service and
the confirmation of the officer in his appointment but not including service
while under the age of twenty years, shall be taken into account in computing
his pension.
35. A Council may require an officer to retire from its service at any time
after he attains the age of fifty-five years.
36. No pension shall be granted to an officer who has not attained the age
of fifty-five years, unless on medical evidence to the satisfaction of the Council
that he is incapable, by reason of some infirmity of mind or body, of discharg-
ing the duties of his office, and that such infirmity is likely to be permanent and
is not attributable to his own misconduct or gross negligence.
37. No pension granted to an officer under this Act shall exceed two thirds
of the highest pensionable emoluments drawn by the officer at any time in the
course of his service.
38. Subject to this Part, an officer may be granted on his retirement a
pension at three-fourths of the rate for which provision is made in the Pensions
Regulations made under the Pensions Act.
39.(1) Subject to this Part, service qualifying for pension shall be the inclusive
period between the date on which an officer began to draw salary from the
funds of the Council and the date of his leaving the service of the Council.
(2) Service qualifying for pension shall be unbroken service, except in
cases where it has been interrupted by abolition of office or other temporary
suspension of employment not arising from misconduct, gross negligence or
voluntary resignation.
Computation of
service for
pension.
Retirement at
fifty-five.
Pensions not
payable before
fifty-five years
except in certain
cases.
Maximum
pensions.
Pensions; to
whom and at
what rate to be
granted.
CAP. 30.
Period of service
qualifying for
pension defined.
THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF BELIZE REVISED EDITION 2000
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[CAP. 87 35
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Town Councils
40.(1) Where an order of maintenance has been made by a court of competent
jurisdiction against an officer to whom a pension has been granted, the Council
in whose service the officer was appointed may, on its being proved to it that
there is no reasonable probability of the order being satisfied, from time to time
deduct from the monies payable to the officer by way of pension such sum or
sums as the Council may think expedient, and apply the same to satisfy wholly
or in part the maintenance order.
(2) Where an officer to whom a pension has been granted has left Belize
and deserted and left his wife or child within Belize without sufficient means of
support, the Council in whose service the officer was appointed, on being sat-
isfied that the wife or child is by reason of the officer’s absence from Belize
unable, and would but for the absence be able, to obtain an order of mainte-
nance, may from time to time deduct from the monies payable to such officer by
way of pension such sum or sums as the Council may think expedient, and may
apply it for the maintenance and support of the wife or child.
(3) Where an officer to whom a pension has been granted has been adju-
dicated a person of unsound mind and has a wife or a child or children living,
the Council in whose service the officer was appointed may deduct from the
monies payable to such officer by way of pension such sum or sums as it may
think expedient and apply it for the maintenance and support of the wife or any
child or children of the officer.
41. Subject to section 40 above, no pension granted under this Act shall be
assignable or transferable, or liable to be attached, sequestered, or levied upon,
for or in respect of any debt or claim whatever.
42. Any officer to whom a pension is granted under this Act may, at his
option, be paid in lieu of such pension, a pension at the rate of three-fourths of
such pension together with a gratuity equal to twelve and one-half times the
amount of the reduction so made in the pension.
A Council may
apply part of a
person’s
pension towards
the maintenance
of his wife or
children.
Pensions not to
be assignable.
Lump sum gratuity
with reduced
pension.
CAP. 87]
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43.(1) A person who resigns from the service of a council after completing not
less than ten years of continuous service may be granted a gratuity.
(2) An officer who resigns from the service of a Council after completing
not less than fifteen years of pensionable service may be granted in accor-
dance with regulations made under this Act:-
(a) a gratuity, if he resigns after completing not less than ten years
of continuous service; or
(b) a pension and gratuity, if he resigns after completing not less
than fifteen years of continuous service.
(3) In the case of subsection (2) above, the pension (but not gratuity) shall
be deferred until the officer reaches the normal retirement age, or in special
cases with the approval of the Council in whose service the officer was ap-
pointed, any lower age not being less than fifty years.
44. Subject to the provisions of this Part, where a person retires from the
service of a Council before completing ten years of continuous service, he
may be granted in respect of such service, a gratuity not exceeding five times
the annual amount of the pension which might have been granted had there
been no qualifying period.
45.(1) Where a female officer retires or is required to retire for the reason that
she is about to marry or has married, and she is not eligible for the grant of any
pension or otherwise eligible for gratuity under this Part, she may be granted in
respect of her service under a Council, a gratuity of an amount not exceeding
five times the annual amount of the pension for which she would have been
eligible had there been no qualifying period.
(2) For the purpose of computing the amount of gratuity under subsection
(1) above:
Payment of
pension/gratuity
upon resignation.
Gratuity where
service does not
qualify for
pension.
Gratuity for
female officer.
THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF BELIZE REVISED EDITION 2000
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[CAP. 87 37
[ ]
Town Councils
(a) the reference to two-thirds of her highest pensionable emolu-
ments shall have effect as if the reference were a reference to
one-fifth of her annual pensionable emoluments;
(b) the annual amount of that pension shall not exceed one-fifth
of her annual pensionable emoluments.
Manner of Computing Pensions
46.(1) For the purpose of computing the amount of an officer’s pension the
following periods shall be taken into account as pensionable service:-
(a) any periods during which he has been on duty;
(b) any periods during which an officer has been absent from
duty on leave with full pay.
(2) The periods during which an officer has been absent on leave on half-
pay shall, for the purposes of this Part, be counted at the rate of one day for
every two days of such period.
(3) Any period during which he has been absent on leave, other than those
specified above, shall be deducted from the officer’s total service in order to
arrive at his period of pensionable service.
47. For the purpose of computing the amount of an officer’s pension:-
(a) in the case of an officer who has held one office for a period
of three years immediately preceding the date of his retire-
ment, the full pensionable emoluments payable to him at that
date in respect of that office shall be taken;
Pensionable
service
Computation of
pensions, etc., on
what emoluments
to be based.
CAP. 87]
THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF BELIZE REVISED EDITION 2000
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Town Councils
(b) in the case of an officer who at any time during such period
of three years has been transferred from one office to
another, but whose pensionable emoluments have not been
changed by reason of such transfer or transfers, the full
pensionable emoluments payable to him at the date of his
retirement in respect of the office held by him shall be taken;
(c) in other cases, the average of the full pensionable emolu-
ments payable in respect of each of the offices substantively
held by the officer during his tenure thereof within such
period of three years shall be taken:
Provided that if such average is less than the full pensionable emolu-
ments which were payable to him at the date of the first transfer within such
period of three years, the Council in whose service the officer was appointed
may grant him a pension calculated upon the full pensionable emoluments
payable to him at that date.
48. (1) Every Council may make regulations to govern the administration of
pensions and gratuities payable to its officers and servants under this Part.
(2) Regulations made by a Council under subsection (1) above shall
be subject to negative resolution.
PART X
Legal and General
49. (1) Every Council may from time to time make by- laws on all matters
connected with the rule and good order of its town and for the proper carrying
out of the objects and purposes of this Act.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) above, such by-
laws may provide for all or any of the following, namely:-
Pensions
Regulations.
General powers of
every Council to
make by-laws.
THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF BELIZE REVISED EDITION 2000
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[CAP. 87 39
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(a) for the establishment, control and use of public lavatories and
latrines;
(b) for the licensing of horses, mules, carts, drays and handcarts
kept or used in its town and the imposition of fees in respect
thereof;
(c) for the establishment, regulation, control, maintenance, and
management of markets, slaughter-houses, bath-houses, and
wash-houses and the imposition of rents and fees payable by
persons using or benefited by such markets, slaughter-
houses, bath-houses, wash-houses, meat or other stalls;
(d) for regulating the lighting of places, streets, markets and other
buildings under the control of the Council and the naming and
numbering of any houses, lots, places and streets in the town;
(e) for prohibiting, except in the case of wild animals which may
be shot in the bush, the killing or slaughtering of any animal
the flesh of which is intended for human food in any place
within, or within one mile beyond the limits of, its town, other
than in the slaughterhouse;
(f) for prohibiting the exposing or exhibition for sale of the flesh
of any animal, other than a wild animal shot in the bush, in
any place within, or within one mile beyond the limits of, its
town, other than in the market or such other place or places
as the Council may appoint;
(g) for the regulation of parks, piers, street vendors, gardens,
public recreation grounds, bridges, streets, canals and public
drains, including the imposition of fees for the use thereof;
CAP. 87]
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Town Councils
(h) for the service of notices, orders and other documents
required or authorised to be served by or on the Council
under this Act or any regulations made thereunder;
(i) for regulating the passing of any livestock or other animals
through the streets of such town and specifying the streets
through which such livestock or animals may be allowed to
pass, the time of such passing and the manner and method
of leading or driving them;
(j) generally for all matters connected with the rule and good
government of its town and the proper carrying out of the
objects and purposes of this Act.
(3) All by-laws made by a Council under this section shall be laid before
the House of Representatives through the Minister after the making thereof
and shall be subject to negative resolution by that House.
50. (1) Where any by-laws made by a Council under this Act prescribe any
fees, fines, penalties and forfeitures, such by-laws shall be subject to affirma
tive resolution by the House of Representatives.
(2) All licences, fees, fines, penalties and forfeitures imposed by this Act
or any by-laws made hereunder shall be recoverable under the Summary
Jurisdiction Acts.
51. All documents and notices whatever purporting to be issued or written
by or under the direction of a Council and purporting to be signed by the
Mayor or Town Administrator, shall be received as evidence in all courts of
law, and shall be deemed to be issued or written by or under the direction of
the Council, without proof unless the contrary be shown.
52. Unless otherwise provided in any other Part of this Act, all offences
against this Act or any by-laws made thereunder shall be tried summarily, and
Admissibility in
evidence of
documents
signed by
CAP. 98.
CAP. 99.
By-laws
prescribing fees.
Mayor or Town
Administrator.
Prosecutions to be
instituted by
Mayor or Town
THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF BELIZE REVISED EDITION 2000
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[CAP. 87 41
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Town Councils
may be prosecuted on the complaint or information of the Mayor or Town
Administrator or of any officer of the Council in whose town such offences
were allegedly committed authorised in that behalf, or of any member of the
Belize Police Department.
53. In any prosecution or other legal proceeding under this Act or any by-
laws made thereunder instituted by, against or under the direction of a Council,
no proof shall be required-
(a) of the persons constituting the Council, or the extent of the town
for which the Council is responsible for administering; or
(b) of any order to prosecute or of the particular or general ap-
pointment of any officer of the Council; or
(c) of the authority of the Mayor, Town Administrator or other
officer of the Council to prosecute; or
(d) of the election of the Mayor of the Council; or
(e) of the presence of a quorum of the Council at the making of any
order or the doing of any act,
until evidence is given to the contrary.
54. Where any land is required for public purposes by a Council such land
shall for all purposes be taken to be land required by the Minister for public
purposes, and may be acquired in the manner prescribed by the Land Acquisi-
tion (Public Purposes) Act.
55. (1) Whenever under this Act any works of any kind are required to be
executed or carried out by the owner of any premises in a town and default is
42 of 1999.
Land, how
acquired.
CAP. 184.
Administrator.
A Council may
cause work to be
executed in case
Proof of legal
proceedings.
CAP. 87]
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Town Councils
made in the execution of the works within the time prescribed, the Council of
that town may, if it thinks fit, cause the works to be executed or carried out,
and the expenses incurred by the Council in respect thereof shall be a debt
due to the Council by the owner for the time being of the premises.
(2) The amount of the expenses so incurred by the Council shall bear
interest at the rate of seven per centum per annum from the date of comple-
tion of the work executed or carried out by the Council until payment in full be
made to the Council.
(3) Subject to this Act, the amount of the expenses so incurred with the
interest thereon and mortgagees’ costs shall be a first charge on the property
in respect of which the work was executed or carried out by the Council and
shall be prior and preferential to all existing or future charges or encumbrances
except those in favour of Her Majesty or the Government and the Council
shall have the like rights and remedies as if the payment of such expenses,
interest and costs had been secured by a legal mortgage of a fee simple in
favour of the Council.
(4) The Council shall not obtain any charge under this section unless a
memorandum giving particulars of the charge is executed by the Council and
recorded at the General Registry within two months from completion of the
work executed or carried out by the Council or within such further time as the
Chief Justice may allow under the General Registry Act.
(5) The Chief Justice may make rules prescribing the form of the memo-
randum referred to in subsection (4) above.
(6) A memorandum required by this section shall be recorded without the
payment of any recording fee and shall be exempt from stamp duty.
56. (1) No matter or thing done and no contract entered into by a Council and
no matter or thing done by any member, officer or servant of the Council shall,
if the matter or thing were done or the contract were entered into bona fide
CAP. 327.
of default.
Members of a
Council not liable
personally.
THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF BELIZE REVISED EDITION 2000
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[CAP. 87 43
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Town Councils
for the purpose of executing this Act, subject them or any of them personally to
any action, liability, claim, or demand, whatsoever.
(2) Any expense incurred by the Council, or by any such member, officer
or servant shall be borne and repaid out of the Town Fund administered by the
Council under this Act.
57. Every person who obstructs or impedes or insults or molests or at-
tempts to obstruct or impede or insult or molest any member of a Council,
or the Town Administrator or other officer or employee of any Council law-
fully authorised as such by this Act in the discharge of his duties or in his offic-
ial capacity or in the exercise of his powers either under this or any other Act
or any regulations or by-laws is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary
conviction to a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars.
58. All expenses incurred or payable by a Council pursuant to this Act or
any regulations made thereunder shall be paid out of the Town Fund and all
disbursements therefrom shall be in accordance with accounting regulations
which may be made by the Council from time to time.
59. Without prejudice to any other law which vests any powers in a Coun-
cil, every Council shall have and enjoy such additional powers and functions as
are specified in the following Acts:-
(a) Public Roads Act;
(b) Trade Licensing Act;
(c) Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Act;
(d) Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act; and
(e) Towns Property Tax Act.
Protection of
Council officials
Expenses of a
Council, how
met.
Additional
powers and
functions of
every Council.
CAP. 232.
CAP. 66.
CAP. 150.
CAP.230.
CAP. 65.
CAP. 87]
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Town Councils
60. An offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder may be
commenced within one year after the commission of the offence, or within one
year after the Council concerned or affected by such offence becomes aware
of the offence, whichever is the later.
61.(1) Every Council may make regulations for the better carrying out of the
objects and purposes of this Act, and without prejudice to the generality of the
foregoing, such regulations may provide for:-
(a) the power of the Council to direct, through a notice published
in the Gazette, that any lots or land within the town other than
National Land be filled up by the owner or occupier thereof
to the prescribed level, and the procedure to followed during
the filling up of the land;
(b) the power of the Council to recover costs, and the manner
and method of the recovery of such costs (including the sale
of land and buildings) incurred by the Council under this Act
through doing or causing any work to be done on the prop-
erty of any person in the town where such person has refused,
neglected or defaulted or failed to execute such work himself
after due and reasonable notice has been served on him by
the Council;
(c) the authority of the Council to enter upon any land in the town
at all reasonable hours for the purpose of carrying out powers
and duties conferred or imposed upon it by this Act;
(d) the discretionary powers of the Council in dealing with indi-
gent or poor property owners in the town;
(e) foreshore improvement and any matters related thereto (where
the limits of the town are adjacent to a sea);
Recovery of
penalties.
Regulations.
THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF BELIZE REVISED EDITION 2000
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[CAP. 87 45
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Town Councils
(f) the erection of fences between adjacent lots and messuages;
(g) the prohibition of unauthorized encroachments on the seashore,
river banks, and the banks of drains, canals, and creeks in the
town;
(h) the regulation of any bridges in the town, including the imposi-
tion of fees, fines and penalties in respect of the use of same;
(i) the landing, storage and removal of inflammable liquids in the
own; and
(j) any other matter not specifically included in the paragraphs
above which may properly be dealt with by way of regulations.
(2) Regulations made by the Council under this section shall be subject to
negative resolution by the House of Representatives.
62. This Act shall come into force on a day to be appointed by the Minister
by Order published in the Gazette.
63. (1) The Local Government (District Boards) Act shall stand repealed at the
commencement of this Act.
(2) All regulations, by-laws, rules, orders and other subsidiary legislation
made under the Local Government (District Boards) Act shall continue in force
after the commencement of this Act to such an extent as they are not inconsis-
tent with the provisions of this Act, until repealed by regulations, by-laws, rules,
orders and other subsidiary legislation made hereunder.
Commence-
ment.
Repeals and
savings.
CAP. 67.
R.E. 1980-1990.
CAP. 87]
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SCHEDULE
[Section 2]
List of Towns
1. Benque Viejo Del Carmen
2. Corozal Town
3. Dangriga
4. Orange Walk Town
5. Punta Gorda
6. San Ignacio and Santa Elena
7. San Pedro
