The Sun.
London, England, 1861-12-16 00:00:00

THE PARIS BUDGET.

The report on the finances of Paris presented at
the beginning of the week by the Prefect to the
Council General is of considerable length; the follow-
ing being the principal points set forth :—The total
receipts for 1860, the first year of the aggrandise-
ment of the capital, were 161,498,673 fr., and the
total expenses, 138,544,981 fr., leaving a balance of
receipts of 22,953,6921 r. By the enlargement of
Paris the municipal treasury obtained au augmen-
tation of 6,000,000 fr. in receipts. Almost all the
branches of revenue were'not only more than in the
preceding year, but greater than had been calcu-
lated on. For the present year the total receipts
are estimated at 204,405,749 fr. ; the total expenses
at 182,782,237 fr., leaving a surplus of 21,673,512 f.
In the expenses, the municipal debt is put down
for 12,542,205 fr., under the title of " ordinary,"
which means the usual charges, and 12,237,475 f.,
under that of " extraordinary," which means reim-
bursements ; the Prefecture of Police absorbs
12,137,993 f. ; and the great public works—archi-
tecture and the fine arts, bridges, streets, and roads,
the termination of works undertaken with the
cooperation of the Government, and the extraor-
dinary expenses of all kinds caused by the exten-
sion of the limits of Paris—are set down for
37,572,99/fr. The budget of the year 1862
estimates the receipts ordinary and extraordinary
at 125,027,6571 r., and the expenses at the same
figure, 77,814,822 fr. of the latter being set down
as ordinary, and 47,212,833 fr. as extraordi-
nary. The ordinary expenses are 3,330,637 fr.
more than in 1861, 1,682,375 fr. of that sum
being for the municipal debt (annual charges),
1,522,015 fr. for the Prefecture of the Seine, and
126,247 fr. for the Prefecture of Police. The increase
in the debt is explained by the necessity of provid-
ing for the Caisse de Travaux, a subvention suffi-
cient to maintain its issues of securities. Had it not
been for this circumstance, the debt would have
presented a decline, owing to the operation of the
sinking fund. The augmentation in the expenses
of the Prefecture of the Seine is occasioned in a
great measure by all the population of Paris being
relieved from what is called the personal tax, by
persons occupying apartments of only 250 fr. rent
being excused from the payment of municipal taxes,
and by reductions in such taxes being made to
others who occupy apartments of higher rent, but
who are poor. The number of families totally re-
lieved from said takes will be 41,140, and that of
those partially relieved, 167,175. These numbers
are greater than in 1861, and the report remarks
that they prove that the number of small lodgings
in Paris is not so small as is generally supposed.
Other circumstances have also contributed to in-
crease the outlay of this prefecture—one being the
neccssity of increasing the staff of clerks, &c., at the
Hotel de Ville ; another an augmentation of the grant
for public assistance; a third an increased allowance
to schools, &c. The report gives details respecting
the principal items of expense. One of these items
is 10,516,500 fr. for the paving, macadamisation, and
cleaning of the streets. For the year 1861 the sum
appropriated to that purpose was 9,820,900 fr., and
for 1860 it was 8,938,522 fr. The total length of
paved and macadamised streets in Paris next year
will be 710 kilometres (the kilometre is five-eighths
of a mile) ; in 1861 it is 694 kilometres, and in 1860
it was 685. Of the 710 kilometres, 468 are in old
Paris, the remainder in the annexed districts : 531
are paved, 179 macadamised. The surface of the
710 kilometres is 5,937,000 square metres—of which
4,183,000 will be paved, the rest macadamised. The
lighting of Paris will cost 3,089,600 fr. The value
of the building ground to be sold in Paris, in the
Bois de Boulogne, and in the Bois de Vincennes is
estimated at 65,440,078 fr. The report concludes
by declaring that the municipal administration,
notwithstanding the difficulty of its task, is proud
at being associated in the execution of the great
works which the Emperor has caused to be under-
taken for the embellishment of Paris."