474 PARKS 



assessment plan, and where the improvement in living conditions would 

 represent general benefit as well as great advantage to the people living in 

 the immediate section, (g) Acquisition and improvement of boulevards and 

 parkways. 



The principle involved here is that bond issues secured by general 

 taxation should be used only where it can be clearly shown that the acquisi- 

 tion and improvement will be of appreciable benefit to the whole community 

 and not chiefly for the benefit of some particular part of the community. 

 Just what is of benefit to an entire community and what is not is often very 

 hard to determine. It may be asserted that any improvement, although 

 chiefly benefiting a part of the community, is a benefit to the entire com- 

 munity, and it is on this theory that general bond issues for the acquisition 

 and improvement of all types of recreation areas are justified. However, 

 there has developed another theory which is coming more and more into 

 practice that there are certain kinds of recreation areas that should be 

 acquired and improved entirely or partially by sections of cities that are 

 chiefly benefited. This will be discussed in detail in a subsequent section. 



In the issuance of general bonds there should be discrimination as to 

 terms of the bonds. There should be a decided distinction between the 

 terms of bonds for acquisition of properties and the terms of bonds for 

 many of the usual so-called permanent improvements. Long term bonds, 

 say for a maximum of fifty years, may be permissible for the acquisition of 

 most real properties. But such long term bonds should not be considered 

 in connection with landed properties where the legal status is not perma- 

 nently fixed, such as children's playgrounds, neighborhood playfield areas, 

 and many of the so-called boulevards having the legal status of streets. 

 Bonds for improvements should never be issued to extend beyond the life 

 of the improvement, and this expected life should be calculated on a minimum 

 term of years. Instances have been noted where the people were still paying 

 for an improvement long after the improvement was worn out or its use 

 discontinued for some reason or other. The abuse of bond issues has been 

 so great in this connection that some states now have laws limiting improve- 

 ment bonds to specific numbers of years for different types of improvements. 

 It would be wise if all states would adopt similar regulations. Regardless 

 of whether such an obligatory law exists or not, all park authorities should 

 work out and adopt a schedule as to terms of bonds for different types of 

 improvements. 



Many states also have laws prohibiting the use of the sinking fund 

 type of bond and make the use of the serial bond obligatory. This is a very 

 wise provision for the reason that there has been great abuse in handling 

 sinking fund bonds whereby, through failure to make provision for pay- 



