148 



STATION BULLETIN 346 



Table 5. The Relation of Population in 1940 as Percent of 1910 ro Town 

 Expenses, Town Property Taxes, and Other Factors 



Population in 1940' Num- 

 as percent of 1910 ber 



Population in 1940 



Range 



of 

 Actual towns 



Per Percent Percent 



town square ^^ jgg^ ^^ ^^^^ 

 mile 



Assessed 

 valuation 



Per 

 town 



Per 



capita 



80 



Less than 

 80 to 89.9 

 90 to 99.9 

 100 and over 



All towns 



72.6 



84.5 



96.5 



116.8 



23 

 20 

 24 

 33 



416 

 496 

 840 

 964 



11.2 

 11.9 

 23.6 

 32.6 



55.2 

 56.9 

 82.1 

 96.1 



98.4 

 108.6 

 107.8 

 110.5 



$481,148 

 565,028 

 756,473 

 991,409 



$1,156 



1,140 



901 



1,028 



97.8 100 



715 



20.3 



77.3 107.7 $732,388 $1,025 



Population in 



1940 as percent 



of 1910 



Town expenses 



Per Per 



town capita 



Town property tax 



Per 



town 



Per 

 capita 



Percent 



of 

 valuation 



Percent 



of total 



property 



tax 



Less than 80 

 80 to 89.9 

 90 to 99.9 

 100 and over 



$10,992 

 11,258 

 16,400 

 18,398 



$26.41 

 22.71 

 19.52 

 19.08 



$ 7,089 



7,128 



10,369 



11,996 



$17.03,' 

 14.38 

 12.34 

 12.44 



1.47 

 1.26 

 1.37 

 1.21 



43.3 

 40.8 

 41.4 

 37.0 



All towns $14,787 



$20.69 



$ 9,503 



$13.30 



1.30 



39.7 



The 100 towns were sorted on the basis of trend in population 

 from 1930 to 1940, but the results add little of importance to the pres- 

 ent analysis except, of course, the fact that what actually happened 

 to population during this decade appears unimportant to present town 

 economy. All but 21 of 100 towns had more people in 1940 than in 

 1930. 



The Relation of Assessed Valuation to Town Expenses, Property 



Taxes, and Other Factors 



Assessed Valuation per Town 



Because of the high correlation between population and taxable 

 wealth, it is natural to assume that sorting towns by the two factors 

 separately would give similar results. It is true that, in general, 

 towns small in population also have a relatively small amount of taxa- 

 ble wealth, but there is sufficient variance in taxable wealth per cap- 

 ita among the towns to justify an examination of the relation between 

 valuation and town finance. This relation is shown in Table 6, in 

 which the 100 towns are grouped according to their respective val- 

 uations. 



Towns with a taxable wealth of less than $400,000, like towns of 

 fewer than 400 persons, have a sparse population and have endured 

 a loss of nearly one-half of their population since 1880. They spend 

 less and levy a much smaller property tax. Whereas assessed valua- 

 tion per capita tends to be greater among towns of small population 

 (see Table 2). it is somewhat less for towns having a relatively small 

 valuation. Town expenses per capita and town property taxes per 

 capita are about the same for all groups of towns when sorted ac- 



