60 STATION BULLETIN 346 



The state average tax rate rose from $1.60 in 1913 to an all-time 

 high of $3.48 in 1938. The 1939 rate of $3.45 is no evidence of a 4e- 

 cline in local appropriations. If the tobacco tax had not been sub- 

 stituted for the state direct tax, which was $1,200,000 in 1938, the 

 state average rate would have been $3.64 in 1939. Of equal signifi- 

 cance with this phenomenal rise in the average tax rate is the fact 

 that some towns still have extremely low tax rates, while others are 

 burdened with extremely high tax rates (Table 12). For all towns 

 in the state, the range between the lowest and highest tax rates has 

 tended to increase since 1913. The siuallest difference between the 

 lowest and highest tax rate was $2.03 and occurred in 1915; the great- 

 est difference was $5.38 in 1939. The lowest individual town tax rate 

 during the entire period from 1913 to 1940 was $0.28 in 1918, and the 

 highest rate was $6.45 in 1939. These extreme cases are the results 

 of unusual situations. 



Table 12. New Hampshire State Average Tax Rate, and the Range and 

 Dn-FERENCE Between the Lowest and Highest Town and City Tax 

 Rates, by Tax Years 1913 to 1940, 233 Towns* 



Only 233 towns had corporate status during the entire period. 



J 



