✨ County Financial Report
THE COUNTY OF
WESTLAND GAZETTE.
Published by Authority.
HOKITIKA, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1871.
County Audit Office,
Hokitika, February 16, 1871.
J. I. LAHMAN, Esq., Chairman of the County
Council of Westland.
SIR—I have the honour to forward herewith the following documents, viz.:
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County Treasurer’s Account of Receipts and Expenditure for the Financial Half-Year ended the 31st December, 1870.
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Balance Sheet for same period.
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Comparative Return of Revenue Collected in the County of Westland during the Half-Year ended the 30th June, 1870, and 31st December, 1870, respectively.
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Statement of Assets and Liabilities of the County on the 31st December, 1870.
The statement of receipts and expenditure and balance sheet I have examined and compared with the vouchers, and certified to in the usual manner.
I regret to have to report that the local revenue for the past half-year shows a decrease of more than five thousand pounds, viz.:
On Gold Export Duty ... £702 1 1
Miners’ Rights, Licenses, &c. ... 675 0 6
Spirit Licenses ... 1405 19 10
Land Revenue ... 1769 8 6
Rents, Fees, Wardens’ Courts ... 288 19 0
Incidental Receipts ... 464 1 2
Total decrease half-year ended the 31st December, 1870 ... £5305 10 1
On the other hand, the only items which show any increase are—
Tolls, punts, and ferries ... £209 13 4
Mining Surveys ... 29 4 10
Total increase half-year ended the 31st December, 1870 ... £238 18 2
I also beg to report that this decrease is not exceptional, or confined to the present half-year, but has been going on gradually for the last two years. On referring back to the revenue received during the year 1869, I find that the local revenue (viz., that exclusive of Consolidated Revenue) amounted:
Half-Year ended 30th June, 1869, to ... £31,000
" 31st Dec., 1869, to ... 26,000
Total ... £57,000
Half-Year ended 30th June, 1870, to ... £26,000
" 31st Dec., 1870, to ... 21,000
Total ... £47,000
From the above figures, it will be observed that during every half-year since the 30th June, 1869, the revenue has decreased in the sum of five thousand pounds sterling.
This is rather a serious result, and one of vital importance to the County, inasmuch as it must prove that either the mining population are leaving the Coast, or else that the revenue is being defrauded.
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Westland Provincial Gazette 1871, No 6
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🏘️ Financial Report for County of Westland
🏘️ Provincial & Local Government16 February 1871
Financial Report, Revenue Decrease, County Audit, Westland
- J. I. Lahman (Esquire), Chairman of the County Council of Westland
- County Audit Office