BUDGETS OF TOWNS OF NIZHNY NOVGOROD GOVERNORATE IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE XIX CENTURY

As a result of the ongoing changes in the legal regulation of local governments in Russia, their independence is often limited. That is why it is important to study the historical experience accumulated by towns in the second half of the XIX century, when newly created public administration bodies independently resolved the issues of local importance, including seeking funds to replenish the budget. The purpose of the research is to study the activities of urban public administration bodies in forming budgets using the example of the towns of Nizhny Novgorod governorate in the second half of the XIX century. Materials and methods. The sources of the work were legislative acts, published office records, as well as archival documents. Among the legislative acts, the main source was the City Regulations of 1870. Office records include, first of all, published reports of the city administrations of Nizhny Novgorod and the uyezd towns of the governorate. The unpublished sources included documents from the Central Archive of Nizhny Novgorod Region and the State Archive of Arzamas of Nizhny Novgorod region. When writing the article, the authors’ works on regional history were studied. The main methods used in writing the article were systematic, comparative-historical and statistical ones. Research results. The article examines the financial part of the activities of public administration bodies in the towns of Nizhny Novgorod governorate in the second half of the XIX century. The main sources of budget revenue were local taxes and fees, primarily the assessment fee on real estate. The analysis of the data on governorate towns indicates that the assessment fee did not generate significant financial revenues. At this, the fees did not go to the city budget in full, part of it was sent to the governorate’s budget and to the state treasury. In some cases, the assessment fee was not carried out in full. In Nizhny Novgorod, the largest amount of income was received for issuing documents for the right to trade and crafts. A significant part of the income was rent for urban real estate: land, forest plots, hayfields, shorelines, buildings, forges, mills, warehouses, shops. An important role was played by donations to the town, which, as a rule, were directed towards the maintenance of the social sphere. Among expenses, one of the first places was occupied by funds allocated for the maintenance of administrative structures. On average, they accounted for 25% of all expenses in the towns of the governorate. The expenses also included the military’s housing service, the costs of maintaining the police, fire protection, and prison buildings. In Nizhny Novgorod, the growth of urban incomes made it possible to increase expenditures on all major budget items, improve the city, and develop the social sphere. In uyezd towns, it was not always possible to achieve a deficit-free budget. Conclusions. Considering the sources of replenishing the budgets of the towns of Nizhny Novgorod governorate, it is necessary to single out local taxes, income received as rent for the use of urban property, as well as charitable donations. The funds received by the town were used for the maintenance of city government bodies, military units, police, fire protection service and prisons, and the social sphere. The towns of Nizhny Novgorod governorate had different amounts in their budgets, depending on the state and development of the economy and sources of taxation. Income growth is most clearly seen in the example of Nizhny Novgorod. In some uyezd towns, the expenditure part of the budget exceeded the revenue part. The reasons include poverty of taxpayers, the peculiarities of the towns location, an insufficient level of industrial development and the decline in trade activity.