LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION 



145 



However, the relation of density of population to town economy is 

 shown in Table 3. On the average, the more sparsely populated towns 

 are those of larger than average area, but this is a mere fact and of no 

 great consequence in itself and lacks relevancy to cause and effect. 

 The relation between density of population and trend in population 

 is almost identical with the relation between pojmlation per town 

 and population trend as shown in Table 2. 



As the populations of towns grow and become more dense, it 

 becomes necessary to provide a greater amount of public services than 

 for sparsely populated areas ; for instance, densely populated areas 

 require garbage collection, fire departments, police departments, sewer 

 service, and the like. Thus, total expenses mount, but. in general, not 

 in proportion to the number of people served, so that the total costs 

 per person are actually less. Likewise, town inventories and prop- 

 erty taxes rise along with population and expenditures, but are 

 actually less on a per capita basis for the more densely populated 

 towns. In other words, a normal situation is for a town of sparse 

 population, and this usually means a small population, to spend little 

 in total amount, but to spend more per capita. 



Trend in Population 



Only 20 of these 100 rural towns had a larger population in 1940 

 than they did in 1880, and 18 had lost more than one-half of their 

 population (Table 4). The latter group of towns are particularly 

 characterized by a small and sparse population, a small amount of 

 taxable wealth per town, but a relatively large valuation per capita. 

 Although these towns spend somewhat less in total, the expenses per 



Table 4. The Relation of Population in 1940 as Percent of 1880 to Town 

 Expenses, Iown Property Taxes, and Other Factors 



Population in 1940 

 as percent of 1880 



Range 



Num- 

 ber 

 of 

 Actual towns 



Population in 1940 



Per 



town 



Per 



square 

 mile 



Assessed 

 valuation 



Percent 

 of 1930 



Per 

 town 



Per 

 capita 



Less than 50 42.0 18 



50 to 74.9 64.6 44 



75 to 99.9 87.7 18 



lOO and over 118.2; 20 



All towns n.l 100 



398 



538 



821 



1,292 



9.5 

 15.1 

 24.7 

 43.0 



109.0 

 106.7 

 105.6 

 109.4 



$ 



501,677 

 549,863 

 892,215 

 1,197,738 



715 



20.3 



107.7 $ 732,388 



$1,261 



1,021 



1,086 



927 



$1,025 



Population in . 

 1940 as percent 

 of 1880 



Town expenses 



Town property tax 



Per 

 town 



Per 



capita 



Per 

 town 



Per 

 capita 



Percent 

 •■ of 

 valuation 



Percent 



of total 



property 



tax 



Less than 50' 

 50 to 74.9 

 75 to 99.9 

 100 and over 



$11,305 

 11,502 

 16,139 

 23,931 



$28.42 

 21.36 

 19.65 

 18.53 



$ 7,890 



7,592 



9,504 



15,159 



$19.83 

 14.10 

 11.57 

 11.74 



1.57 

 1.38 

 1.07 

 1.27 



49.2 

 41.4 

 35.2 

 Z1.2 



All towns $14,787 



$20.69 



$ 9,503 



$13.30 



1.30 



39.7 



