Local Authority Accounting Methods

The book contains a collection of papers dealing with a range of controversial accounting issues which exercised the minds of local authority officials during the period 1909-1934 and the "solutions" embodied in the Accounts (Boroughs and Metropolitan Boroughs) Regulations 1930. The contributors to the debate were mainly local government officials and the items reproduced cover a wide range of matters such as the content of the abstract accounts; the need for standardization and an illuminating comparison of the nature and contents of municipal accounts with those of limited companies. A number of issues which received close attention from the literature during the early part of the present century were related to the growth of municipal trading undertakings (water, gas, tramways and electricity). The pricing of these services was a matter of considerable debate; questions included whether these services should be priced to generate a profit, break-even or receive a subsidy from the rates. The depreciation question and the related issues of loan periods and the need for a sinking fund receive some attention as do the growing concern of municipal debt.