136 STATION BULLETIN 346 



tionships presented here are concerned with the area of the town as it 

 is related to variations in total population. The small number of 

 towns in some groups limits the value of the analysis. 



When population per town is held constant at less than 400, 

 school expenditures, as a percentage of total expenditures, increase 

 from 24.2 percent for towns with less than 10 persons per square mile 

 to 38.9 percent for towns with 30 or more persons per square mile. 

 On the same basis, highway expenditures and state and county taxes 

 tend to decline in relative importance for towns with dense popula- 

 tion. For towns with a larger population, the effect of an increase in 

 density of population is less consistent, but it can be said in general 

 that in rural towns with larger than average population school ex- 

 l^enditures consume a larger percentage of the total expenditures and 

 highway expenditures consume a smaller percentage of total expendi- 

 tures. 



When the density of population is held constant and total popu- 

 lation per town is increased (or, when the area is increased), there 

 is no consistent relation to the percentage distribution of expenditure 

 items. In other words, the area of a town has little relation to the 

 relative costs of roads and schools when the population per square 

 mile is held constant. Furthermore, school expenditures are relatively 

 less and highway expenditures are relatively more when a given popu- 

 lation is spread over a large area than when it is condensed into a 

 small area. These statements have no reference to differences in the 

 quality of education or of highways. The quality of various govern- 

 mental services was not considered in this study. 



Population per Town and Assessed Valuation per Town 



Sorting the 89 rural towns by population and subsorting by as- 

 sessed valuation further emphasizes the direct relation between these 

 two factors. Twenty-five towns had a population of less than 400 in 

 1930, and in each instance the assessed valuation is less than $700,000. 

 Likewise, 18- towns had a population of 1,000 or more, and in each in- 

 stance the assessed valuation is $700,000 or more (Table 12). 



Inasmuch as the state and county taxes are apportioned among 

 towns and cities on the basis of "equalized valuation" (see page 55 

 for explanation of equalized valuation), the actual amount of such 

 taxes varies with valuations regardless of population. As a percent- 

 age of the total, however, the state and county taxes are generally of 

 less significance in towns with a population of 700 or more than in 

 towns with a population of less than 700. This is largely because 

 expenditures for highways and schools are relatively more important. 

 In 15 towns with a population of less than 400 and taxable wealth of 

 less than $400,000, expenditures for education amount to 28.9 percent 

 of total expenditures, compared with 36.2 percent for 15 towns with 

 a population of 1,000 or more and taxable wealth of $1,000,000 and 

 oyer. A similar comparison shows that highway expenditures de- 

 cline from 25.8 percent to 20.3 percent, respectively, of the total ex- 

 penditures. Thus, expenditures for education are particularly high in 

 relation to total expenditures in towns which have both a large popu- 



