Colonial local finance: rates, levies, fees, fines, quit-rents

Build local order and public services close enough for residents to see and approve.

Colonial assemblies, counties, parishes, and towns raised revenue through property and poll taxes, fees, fines, local levies, trade duties, and land-related payments.

Local taxes and fees made courts, roads, records, jails, poor relief, militias, and basic administration possible before a national treasury existed.