Mayor Charles Gosling says the Corporation of Hamilton would face "death by financial strangulation" under legislation being pushed by some in the Progressive Labour Party.

The Royal Gazette understands a bill which failed to win approval from PLP caucus last week:

• removes $7.5 million a year from the Hamilton municipality's coffers by stopping the Corporation levying wharfage and ports dues;

• strips Hamilton of $850,000 in property tax by changing the city boundaries to exclude areas such as Par-la-Ville car park, Bermudiana Road and Albouy's Point;

• hits the city with a $200,000 a year land tax bill by saying the Corporations (Hamilton and St. George) are no longer exempt from the draft valuation list.

Mr. Gosling said this amounts to $8.5 million a year, meaning the Corporation could end up having to sell its assets.

He said that while the bill does not specifically state the Corporations would be abolished, it would leave the city with no chance of surviving in the long-term.

"Taking out such a huge part of our revenue stream would just a devastating effect on our ability to do our business," he told this newspaper.

"We would have to look immediately in terms of what could we do to replace that revenue and look at our expenses and see what savings we could make.

"This is like a surgical process. If you were to take a part of the body away, it would just have the impact on that organism being able to exist, let alone survive in a useful manner.

"I just see this as being the opening blow if this actually gets presented in Parliament.

"We all live to our income. If you see your income suddenly, without any proper warning, being cut by as much as 40 percent, something has got to give.

"We are going to very, very quickly put ourselves in a financial situation where Government will have to rescue us by taking us over.

"But the only reason we would need rescuing is because they put us in this predicament in the first place."

Last Wednesday, Minister without Portfolio Zane DeSilva took the bill to PLP caucus, but the discussion was deferred because backbenchers said they had not been given enough time to reflect on it before debate.

Under normal circumstances, the legislation — said to be one of Premier Ewart Brown's last remaining ambitions before he stands down later this year — would now not be tabled before the House of Assembly rises for a summer break.

Several sources say if that happens the bill may never see the light of day because none of the likely contenders to replace Dr. Brown appear to support it.

But some believe Dr. Brown could try to find a way forward with it anyway before he leaves.

Dr. Brown and Mr. DeSilva, the Minister in charge of the $800,000 review into the future of the municipalities, have both declined to say what the legislation intends to do.

Mr. DeSilva has declined to comment on what happened at last week's caucus, telling this newspaper: "It would be inappropriate for me to discuss what happens in caucus with you, even if you have sources who are prepared to violate our internal rules."