LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION 9 



from approximately 391 million in 1914 to over 625 million in 1930. 

 Much of this increase, particularly during the earlier years, is the re- 

 sult of assessing- property at nearer full value. The decline in valua- 

 tion since 1930 has been due to the business depression, floods, and the 

 hurricane. The taxable wealth of all towns and cities in 1941 was 

 only 43 percent greater than in 1914, but taxes had increased nearly 

 threefold. The tax rate over this 28-year period, therefore, more than 

 doubled. 



Purpose and Scope of Study 



Studies in local government and taxation should follow a prog- 

 ressive pattern, a series of investigations in which each is pertinent 

 to that which follows and in which each succeeding study is another 

 step. First it is important that the system be described with respect 

 to organization, administration, and finance; to explain how it Avorks. 

 Once the system is understood, the finances can be examined to de- 

 termine why taxes vary among like units of government and to set 

 up standards for comparative analysis. Such procedure would logi- 

 cally be followed by a more thorough analysis of important expendi- 

 ture items, particularly schools, highways, and welfare. Each phase 

 of the work should be supplemented by case studies, because every 

 town is an individual problem in itself. 



In this study of local government and taxation of rural New Hamp- 

 shire, the first phase will be concerned with a description of local 

 government largely from the point of view of general organization 

 and administration. This will be followed immediately by an investi- 

 gation of the fiscal system involved for the obtaining and spending of 

 public money. A third phase will consider individually some basic 

 local functions with emphasis on their state-local relationships, an 

 important aspect of local government inasmuch as the state is the 

 creator of its subdivisions. Such investigations are mandatory to 

 the researcher as a foundation to the recognition of rural governmental 

 problems, and enable him to draw conclusions consistent with exist- 

 ing processes and administrative arrangements. They will serve 

 further to reveal problems for continued research and will acquaint 

 the reader with the system and practices, many of which are peculiar 

 to New Hampshire. 



Sources of Information 



Statistics published on the subject of local government and taxa- 

 tion in New Hampshire are largely those of state totals. These offer 

 little assistance in the analysis of the problems of rural communities 

 because they are heavily weighted by urban figures. Thus, inasmuch 

 as this is largely a study of rural situations, it was necessary to obtain 

 information from a representative sample of rural towns. The divid- 

 ing line between rural and urban towns was fixed at 2,500 population 

 in accordance with the census classification. 



Of the 234 towns and cities in New Hampshire, 32.9 percent have 

 a population of less than 500, 74.3 percent have a population of l^ess 

 than 1,500, and only 14.4 percent have a population as great as 2,500. 



