LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION 



149 



Table 6. The Relation of Assessed Valuation per Town to Town Expenses, 

 Town Property Taxes, and Other Factors 



Assessed valuation per town 



Range 



Average 



Num- Assessed 



ber valuation 



of per 



towns capita 



Population in 1940 



Per 

 town 



Per 



square 



mile 



Percent 

 of 1880' 



Less than $400,000 

 $400,000 to $700,000 

 $700,000 to $1,000,000 

 $1,000,000 and over 



All towns 



$ 279,892 



534,049 



845,925 



1,554,271 



24 $ 873 320 10.9 55.0 



36 1,012 528 14.0 65.0 



21 1,016 832 23.7 82.2 



19 1,082 1,437 37.8 97.6 



$ 732,388 100 



$1,025 



715 



20.3 



n.z 



Assessed valuation 

 per town 



Town expenses 



Per Per 



town capita 



Town property tax 



P«r 



town 



Per 

 capita 



Percent 



of 

 valuation 



Percent 



of total 



property 



tax 



Less than $400,000 

 $400,000 to $700,000 

 $700,000 to $1,000,000 

 $1,000,000 and over 



All towns 



$ 6,486 

 10,861 

 17,018 

 30,246 



$20.24 

 20.58 

 20.45 

 21.05 



$ 4,538 



7,261 



10.660 



18,746 



$14.16 

 13.76 

 12.81 

 13.04 



1.62 

 1.36 

 1.26 

 1.21 



47.0 

 41.4 

 37.9 

 37.8 



$14,787 $20.69 $ 9,503 $13.30 



1.30 



39.7 



cording to valuation. However, the amount. of property taxes in re- 

 lation to valuation is much higher for towns with less than $400,000 

 of taxable wealth than towns with $1,000,000 or more of valuation, as 

 evidenced by the respective percentages, 1.62 and 1.21. Thus, a nor- 

 mal situation is for rural towns to spend about the same amount per 

 capita regardless of taxable wealth, but, apparently, revenue from 

 sources other than the property tax are of such small amounts as to 

 cause a relatively greater burden on the property tax among towns 

 low in taxable wealth. 



Assessed Valuation per Capita 



As previously stated, towns vary within relatively narrow limits 

 with respect to assessed valuation per capita, owing to the fact that 

 there is a high correlation between population and taxable wealth. 

 The relationship between assessed valuation per capita and town 

 economy is neither consistent nor marked (Table 7). However, towns 

 below average in taxable wealth per capita generally have more than 

 average population, a correspondingly denser population, and a some- 

 what smaller amount of taxable wealth than do towns of greater than 

 average taxable wealth per capita. Furthermore, town expenses per 

 capita and property taxes per capita are below average, but the result- 

 ing tax rate is considerably above average. Towns having an assessed 

 valuation per capita of less than $800 had an average tax rate of $1.51 

 per $100 of assessed valuation compared with $1.11 for towns having 

 $1,200 or more of assessed valuation per capita. The average amounts 

 of expenses and of property taxes show virtually no relation to taxa- 



