The Municipal Council of New Orleans allocated for the funding of the city's illumination system a head tax on beeves and sheep slaughtered and sold in the municipal market and a tax on the number of barrels of flour the bakers of the city consumed for making bread. The imposts were collected and reported on a monthly basis. City Steward Juan de Castanedo had charge of the fund, but often appointed a deputy, who countersigned the monthly report, to make the actual collection. The final report was a summary of each month's receipts during 1799. The documents, filed in chronological order, were dated.