22 University of New Hampshire [Bulletin 339 



REVISION OF DUNCAN AID FORMULA 



The obvious purpose of the "Duncan aid" is to assist towns with 

 low valuations per mile of Class V road to bear their road burdens, 

 which are heavier than those of richer towns. The 1941 legislature 

 again expressed its approval of the principle of extending financial 

 help to the low valuation towns by revising the Duncan aid formula 

 to provide them with greater assistance. Although the principle upon 

 which Duncan aid is distributed is exceptionally good, neither the 

 old nor the new distribution formula has allowed the Duncan aid to 

 alleviate sufficientlv the road burdens of towns with a valuation of less 

 than $20,000 per mile. 



As has already been explained, the new Duncan formula provides 

 that the State will annually make available for each town a sum suffi- 

 cient, when added to the amount which could be derived from a tax 

 of 50 cents on the $100 assessed valuation, to equal $90 per mile of 

 Class V road. This aid is entirely separate from TRA. It is recom- 

 mended that the Duncan formula be revised to provide that the State 

 make available to each town with a valuation per mile of Class V road 

 of less than $10,000 a sum sufficient, when added to the amount which 

 could be derived from a tax of 50 cents on the $100 assessed valuation, 

 to equal $110 per mile of Class V road. To each town with an assessed 

 valuation of over $10,000 per mile of Class V road the State would 

 give a sum sufficient, when added to the amount which could be de- 

 rived from a tax of 50 cents on the $100 valuation, to equal $100 per 

 mile of Class V road."" 



This revision of the Duncan formula means specifically that : 

 (1) towns with an assessed valuation of less than $10,000 per mile of 

 Class V road will receive an increase in aid of $20 per mile ; (2) towns 

 with valuation between $10,000 and $20,000 per mile will receive a $10 

 per mile increase in aid ; and (3) the 11 towns with assessed valuations 

 between $18,000 and $20,000 per mile will be included for tlie first time 

 under the Duncan aid. (See Ap])endix A for list of towns receiving 

 Duncan aid.) In view of the marked difference in tax rates and in 

 total expenditures per mile between towns with less than $20,000 

 valuation and those with a greater valuation, this increase in aid to 

 the 89 towns with assessed valuations of less than $20,000 ])er mile 

 IS entirely warranted. Moreover, the difference between the average 

 road tax rates of the 29 towns with a valuation of less than $10,000 per 

 mile and the 60 towns with valuations between $10,000 and $20,000 is 

 significant enough to justify the $10 differential in the aid which these 

 two groups would receive per mile. 



For the purpose of analyzing further the effects of the proposed 

 Duncan formula, a comparison of average road tax rates by towns, 

 grouped according to their assessed valuation per mile of Class V 



*i Hereafter referred to as "proposed Duncan Aid." 



