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STATIOxN BULLETIN 346 



A record of tax collections for all towns and cities by year of levy 

 from 1928 to 1939 appears in Table 3. Not since the levy of 1929 have 

 towns and cities collected as much as 90 percent of the current levy 

 before the end of the fiscal year. January 31, and before sale in those 

 towns where the collector prefers to hold a tax sale before January 31. 

 Only 81 percent of the 1933 levy was collected currently. From 1932 

 to 1939 current collections have varied between the narrow limits of 

 81 and 84 percent. Back taxes collected during any one year repre- 

 sent amounts collected from the levies of all previous years, plus re- 

 demptions of sales, which include costs and interest to date of sale. 

 The total collections have actually exceeded the amount of the levy 

 during each year since 1932, when total collections were only 95.6 per- 

 cent of the current levy. The fact that total collections have exceeded 

 the current levy is partly because of the heavy delinquency during 

 previous years, most of which was later redeemed, and partly because 

 the amount redeemed is always larger than the original tax by the 

 amount of the interest charged as a penalty, plus costs of advertising 

 and selling. For the 12-year period the total collections were 100.3 

 percent of the amount levied, or in other words, the total tax collec- 

 tions tend to equal the amount levied considering the state as a whole. 

 Towns also obtain some revenue from the penalty of 10 percent in- 

 terest charged on property taxes paid between December 1 of the year 

 of levy and the date of sale. If this item were added to tax collections, 

 the average total of collections for the 12-year period would exceed 

 the average levy by $149,781 or by 0.8 percent. This is not evidence 

 that there are no serious delinquency problems in individual towns 

 and cities, but merely shows that for the state as a whole current reve- 

 nues from taxes tend to equal the current levy over a period of years. 



Table 3. Record of Tax Collections L\cluding Taxes Levied Against Property, 

 Polls, and National Bank Stock, All Towns and Cities, by Year of 

 Levy, 1928 to 1939, New Hampshire 



* From annual reports of the state tax comniission. 



t Also from annual reports of the state tax commission. Includes tax sales redeemed but ex- 

 cludes interest collected on late taxes and income from sale of property acquired by tax deed. 



