COST OF GOVERNMENT IN MASS. 207 



not make necessary repairs, the State division of highways may make the re- 

 pairs and add the cost to the State tax for that town. 



Until recently towns were required to keep all highways within their 

 boundaries, including State highways, sufficiently clear of snow and ice to be 

 reasonably safe for travel. As a result, in some of the hill towns costs of snow 

 removal have occasionally equalled the expenditures for highway repairs. The 

 State division of highways is now responsible for keeping State highways open. 

 Snow removal by towns is confined principally to main roads, usually surfaced 

 through routes whether of State, county or town construction. 



The cost of making suitable highway improvements is so great that many 

 towns are unable to finance necessary improvements without aid from the State. 

 With one exception such State aid is conditional upon the town's spending a 

 minimum amount, and while this amount is based upon the ability of the town 

 to pay, the net effect is to increase town expenses. 



The benefits of such State aid are not questioned, but it should be recog- 

 nized that too many forms of State aid which require additional expenditures 

 by the town may cause some towns to spend more than they can afford. In 

 general, all of the requirements that have been suggested and discussed are 

 reasonable and proper. It must be admitted that in all cases where minimum 

 compensation for service is fixed by law, the amount is low and imposes no 

 hardship on the town. The effect of prescribed forms, reports and methods of 

 performing various functions has been to bring more system into small town 

 finances with a consequent increase in eff'iciency. 



SOURCES OF FUNDS TO MEET INCREASING EXPENDITURES" 



Increasing expenditures have made it necessary to find additional funds. 

 Three methods have been used. 



1. Taxation 



a. By increasing existing taxes 



b. By levying new taxes 



2. Increasing departmental earnings 



3. Borrowing 



The Increase in Taxes 



Table 38 shows the increase in tax levies since 1910. Taxes for State and 

 local purposes in 1926 were $278,000,000, or more than three times as much as in 

 1910. In addition, federal internal revenue amounting to $119,000,000 was col- 

 lected in Massachusetts, making a total of over $396,000,000 in taxes paid by the 

 people and industries of the Commonwealth. (Chart 8). Federal internal rev- 

 enue from Massachusetts in 1926 was more than 20 times as much as in 1910. 



The relation betweeen taxes for State purposes and the cost of govern- 

 ment is shown on Chart 9. About 70 per cent of the cost of government is met 

 by taxes, and this percentage has remained fairly constant since 1910. Taxes 

 have increased rapidly since 1919 in order to keep pace with increasing expend- 

 itures. 



^^Data on sources of funds have been taken from the following sources: 



Annual Reports of the State Auditor, Mass. Pub. Doc. 6; Annual Reports of 

 the Commission on Administration and Finance, Mass. Pub. Doc. 140; Annual 

 Reports on the Statistics of County Finances, Mass. Pub. Doc. 29 ; Annual Re- 

 ports on the Statistics of Municipal Finances, Mass. Pub. Doc. 79: Annual 

 Reports of the Commissioner of Corporations and Taxation, Mass. Pub. Doc. 

 16; Annual Reports of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, U. S. Treas. 

 Dept. Doc. 



