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Commissioners of supply were first established in Scotland in 1667 to collect the cess, or national land tax, on a county basis. The Commissioners were themselves the substantial landowners of the county, defined after the Union as those possessing property, superiority or liferent of lands with a minimum annual value of £100 Scots. They gradually acquired duties other than tax collection, although that remained their main function. During the eighteenth century they collected various assessed taxes such as window and horse tax. They became an important institution of local government and provided a voice for the views and concerns of landowners. In some counties attention was paid to police and vagrancy matters, and taxes could be levied for prisons, asylums and county buildings. Commissioners of supply were responsible for measures against contagious diseases of animals under such statutes as the Cattle Plague Prevention Act 1866 (29 & 30 Vict., c.2). In 1869, however, local authorities were set up in each county, to be composed of the commissioners of supply and elected local representatives (Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act 1869, 32 & 33 Vict., c.70). They were abolished by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict., c.50), which transferred their functions to the county councils. County councils, however, sometimes continued to use the name when carrying out their functions under the acts. Almost all the functions of the Commissioners were transferred to the new county councils in 1890 with one important exception. Commissioners of supply formed part of the membership of standing joint committees, which were the police authorities in counties until 1930, and also were required to approve all capital works undertaken by county councils. Both standing joint committees and commissioners of supply were abolished in 1930 (Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929, 19 & 20 Geo. V, c.25).
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