Changes in colonial municipal taxation: the propios y arbitrios of the Arequipa’s cabildo, 1784-1824

Calderón-Valenzuela F. · America Latina en la Historia Economica (2025) · DOI: 10.18232/20073496.1550

Resumen

This article seeks to reconstruct the revenues and expenditures of the colonial cabildo of Arequipa between 1784 and 1824, to trace shifts in the patterns of municipal tax collection (arbitrios), and to examine a fiscal reform proposal submitted by the cabildo in 1816. To achieve this, I have analyzed municipal account reports prepared by the city treasurer and cross-checked them against the cabildo’s official records and correspondence exchanged between council members and higher authorities. Annual municipal financial statements are rarely preserved in Peruvian archives, either due to the deterioration of documents or because they were never formally compiled. This study underscores the growing fiscal significance of arbitrios for municipal finance during the final decades of the colonial period, particularly in contrast to traditional revenue sources such as propios and censos. It also highlights the resistance of metropolitan and viceregal authorities to reform initiatives proposed by the Arequipa cabildo that aimed to replace direct contributions with indirect taxation.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco