78 STATION BULLETIN 346 



On the payments side of the ledger more than one-fourth of the 

 total expenditures of towns and cities in 1940, exclusive of state aid, 

 was expended for highways. This amount is greater than the com- 

 bined expenditures for any two of the other public services. Con- 

 cerning school districts, the greatest single expenditure was for teach- 

 ers' salaries, which amounted to approximately 45 percent of the total. 

 More than two-thirds of the county expenditures was for public wel- 

 fare, a large part of which was at one time a town responsibility. 



As new sources of revenue have developed, the state direct tax 

 has declined in relative importance. In 1900 the state received more 

 than three-fifths of its total revenue from the locally administered 

 property tax. By 1938 this state direct tax amounted to only about 

 six percent of the state's total receipts and was then eliminated in 

 1939. Furthermore, the state has taken away from towns and cities 

 the assessment of certain types of property, and, accordingly, is fullv 

 administering the levy and collection of the respective taxes, which 

 are returned in whole or in part to the municipalities. Thus, there has 

 developed a system of "state-administered, locally shared" taxes, 

 which for the most part are distributed among the towns and cities 

 on the basis of location of the property, or of its owners, and not on the 

 basis of need. 



Although the assessment of property for local taxation and the 

 levy and collection of property taxes remains largely in the hands of 

 local officials, the state tax commission has been granted broad super- 

 visory powers over the administration of the state's assessment and 

 tax laws. Fortunately, the statutes, not the constitution, prescribe the 

 mechanics for effecting the local property tax. Thus, the fiscal offi- 

 cers, their duties, and the kinds of property to be assessed and taxed 

 are matters of legislative jurisdiction. The state tax commission, 

 supplemented by the recently created division of municipal account- 

 ing, is authorized to approve inventories of taxable property, state- 

 ments of appropriations, taxes assessed, and the computed tax rate 

 before towns proceed to levy taxes. The municipal accounting divi- 

 sion both prescribes and provides the forms for uniform accounts, 

 budgets, and reports. Debt limits are fixed by law at varying levels 

 for all local units of government. Whereas the municipal budget act 

 provides a means for more intelligent planning, the tcwn manager act 

 appears to lack adaptability to small rural towms. 



Equality of assessment between individual properties within the 

 town is not a part of this study. Equalization is another matter, and 

 sufficient evidence is offered here that the assessed values of real 

 estate vary among towns with respect to their relation to full value. 

 In view of the fact that equalization is relatively inactive, some in- 

 iustice among local units is obvious when the counties spread their 

 taxes over their respective towns and cities, and also w^hen the state 

 allocates state aid money among the school district-^ Further studv 

 of equalization is nprtinent as a sound basis upon ^^•hi^h to determine 

 a corrective factor for earh town and citv, accordinglv as the assess- 

 ments are below or above full value. 



Based on the reasonino- that the eovernmental unit has not kent 

 pace with the economic unit, political theorists would transfer the re- 



