20 



University of New Hampshire 



[Bulletin 339 



towns with five miles or more to build are permitted to receive TRA 

 and State aid for construction, either or both. These exempted towns 

 are : 



Gilmanton 15.25 miles 



Sandwich 10.98 miles 



Springfield 10.6> miles 



Moultonboro 8.74 miles 



Strafford 7.06 miles 



Hillsboro 6.82 miles 



Loudon 5.10 miles 



Total 



64.56 miles 



An examination of the distribution among towns of the remaining' 

 140.71 miles makes it apparent that the greatest financial burden will 

 fall u|)on the following" 13 towns: 



Sharon 



Washington 



Mason 



Grafton 



Eaton 



Total 



2.25 miles 

 2.04 miles 

 1.90 miles 

 1.33 miles 

 1.14 miles 



37.56 miles 



Lempster 



Thornton 



New Durham 



Richmond 



Unity 



Barnstead 



Middleton 



Wilmot 



4.47 miles 

 4.41 miles 

 4.20 miles 

 3.70 miles 

 3.49 miles 

 3.40 miles 

 2.91 miles 

 2.31 miles 



Each of the above 13 towns has an assessed valuation of less than 

 $20,000 i)er mile of Class V road. The three towns with an assessed 

 valuation of between $10,000 and $20,000 per mile of Class V roads 

 have a total assessed valuation of less than $500,000 each ; the re- 

 maining 10 towns have a valuation of less than $10,000 per mile of 

 Class V road. (See Appendix E, groups 5 and 6.) These towns can- 

 not com])lete their projected mileage without making an unreasonable 

 financial sacrifice.. At best, their contributions to SAO construction 

 could be made only by transferring to the SAO fund money liitherto 

 spent on their own town roads. Nor can it be accurately predicted 

 how long such a shifting of town funds would be necessary before the 

 entire SAO mileage could be completed.'" Suffice it to say, however, 

 that if the town loses its TRA and diverts its own expenditure on 

 town roads to the SAO fund, at the end of three to five years its Class 

 V roads will l^e in a sorry state of repair. 



Although C;ilmanton is not re(|uired by law to complete its pro- 

 jected SAO mileage before receiving TRA, it will serve as a good 

 example of the time and money required when low valuation towns 

 build SAO roads. Gilmanton had a 1940 total valuation of $675,975 

 and a total tax rate of over four dollars per $100 of assessed valuation. 

 In view of its heavy tax load the State Highwav Department is now 

 constructmg four of Gilmanton's 15 projected miles of SAO on the 



=<• Aside from town finances, with the present premium on labor and machinerv during the National 

 Defense emergency, it is extremely doubtful if 80 separate road construction jobs could be 

 carried on simultaneously. 



