For more than two decades, the New Zealand city of Christchurch has annually paid thousands of dollars to Ian Brackenbury Channell, known as the official Wizard of New Zealand. Now the city council wants him to disappear. Channell has been paid $16,000 annually in New Zealand dollars (about $11,290 U.S.) – about $368,000 ($260,000 in U.S. dollars) over 23 years – for "acts of wizardry and other wizard-like services," the city's assistant chief executive Lynn McClelland said in a statement to USA TODAY. "The Council is grateful for the valuable and special contribution The Wizard made to our city’s cultural life, and he will forever be a part of our history," she said. Born in London, Channell began making appearances in the city's Cathedral Square in 1974, according to the city's library website. Over the years, his public appearances included rain dancing during droughts. Popular with tourists, Channell's presence grew as New Zealand became known as the location where the "Lord of the Rings" movies were made. The council recently sent him a letter saying his services would no longer be needed and that his presence didn't fit with its new tourism message, in a move first reported by The Guardian. 📸: Mark Baker, AP