MPs reignited their fight over the Corporation of Hamilton last night as they approved legislation allowing Government to collect wharfage fees formerly levied by the municipality.Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards said he was struggling to see why Government had gone to such trouble changing the rules over the collection of tax on goods imported through the Corporation’s ports.Mr Richards said the financial rewards would be relatively slim because Government will now pay the municipality a grant so much of the cash will effectively end up in Corporation coffers after all.That prompted Minister Zane DeSilva who was in charge of municipality reform last summer to condemn the Corporation for its “nasty campaign” before the Municipalities Act was passed in July.Premier Paula Cox argued it had never been about the money in the first place, and that the legislation was designed to ensure only Government has the power to tax its citizens.The Customs Tariff Amendment Act means import duty charges currently levied by the Corporations will instead be imposed by Government.Ms Cox estimates this will generate $6.2 million for the next fiscal year. Government will give the Corporation of Hamilton a grant of $5 million and the Corporation of St George $700,000; the remaining $500,000, said Ms Cox, will support the planned revenue-sharing scheme.“I mention the planned revenue-sharing scheme to make it very clear to this Honourable House that it is not the aim of Government to take the wharfage income away from the Corporations, but rather to ensure that only the Government of Bermuda should have the power to tax its citizens,” she told the House of Assembly.“What will result is the removal of archaic fees and charges for the use of a nationally important asset that by virtue of history rests in private hands.”Last summer, Hamilton Mayor Charles Gosling said the Municipalities Act would lead to “death by strangulation” for the Corporation if it could no longer levy wharfage fees.Noting those fees will mostly end up back with the Corporation anyway, Mr Richards said yesterday: “One wonders why have we gone though all this palaver for such a small fee.“The former Premier spent $800,000 on lawyers to get this thing done. They spent all this money for the takeover, the net is less than a million dollars. One wonders what it’s all for.“It’s difficult to justify this changing of the guard and it’s certainly going to make it more difficult for the Corporation of Hamilton to run the City.”Attorney General Michael Scott said the Municipalities Act had chiefly been about introducing greater democracy to Hamilton.Last year’s bill also gave all City residents the right to vote, repealing the original 1923 Act which allowed one vote per residence, but multiple votes to business owners with many properties in the City.Mr Scott said of the money spent on consultants before last year’s Act was drawn up: “We were sensitive to the community’s concerns about making changes to this old institution and we wanted to demonstrate fair play and fairness.“The idea is not to take all revenue from the Corporation. History will show that the move and the amendment, and this adjustment to the way the affairs of the Corporation are handled, was good for the City, it was good for democracy and therefore it was good for Bermuda.”During last year’s row over the amendments, the Corporation staged a “Save Our City” campaign involving adverts in the newspaper and posters around Hamilton.Mr DeSilva said last night: “I can’t help but think of the nasty campaign that the Corporation led.“When you talk about net spend, if it could have cost $3 million or $5 million to get that Act changed and get democracy in the City, it would have been money well spent.“When I think of the poor Bermudian families that have been disenfranchised, if we had to spend millions of money on that, it would have been money well spent.“I take issue with that Honourable Member saying how much money was spent.”Former United Bermuda Party leader Grant Gibbons pointed out yesterday’s legislation sets the wharfage fee at 1.25 percent of the value of goods imported into Bermuda, up from 1.1 percent previously.“Effectively, Government is increasing the cost of bringing goods by ship into Bermuda,” said Dr Gibbons, warning that meant food would be more expensive to import.“I’m a little astonished there,” he said.Government backbencher Walter Lister stressed it was about democracy, while Ms Cox concluded: “This isn’t about the money. Really it’s about the fact we had a principle at stake.”