Section 15 of the 1836 city charter dealt with the matter of the outstanding debt owed by the city at the time of its division into three separate municipalities. The debt was apportioned among the municipalities according to the amount of taxes and other revenue accruing to each. Each year the General Council would assess an amount to be paid by each municipality into a General Sinking Fund to be used in paying off the above-described, pre-1836 debt.

The fund was managed by the Mayor and a board of six commissioners composed of two members from each municipality council. This body was annually to select a Comptroller to keep the books and accounts of the sinking fund. The General Sinking Fund and its officers were supplanted in 1850 by the newly established Board of Liquidators.