150 



STATION BULLETIN 346 



ble wealth per capita. However, the lack of consistent and marked 

 relationships as shown in Table 7 gives considerable significance to 

 the present inquiry. 



It is generally believed that as people abandon our rural towns 

 the cost of public services becomes more burdensome for those who 

 remain. Moreover, it is generally thought that a large amount of tax- 

 able wealth per capita is an advantageous element in town economy. 

 The two assumptions appear consistent on first sight with the facts 

 found in this brief study ; for instance, it was shown in Table 4 that 

 those which underwent the greatest loss in population had the larg- 

 est expenses per capita, the largest property taxes per capita, and the 

 highest average tax rate. In Table 7 it was shown that towns with 

 larger than average valuation per capita spent more per capita, paid 

 more property taxes per capita, but enjoyed a lower tax rate. 



Assessed valuation per capita is merely a ratio between the ag- 

 gregate value of taxable property located within the town and the 

 resident population of that town. The ratio is altered by a variation 

 in either of the constituents in relation to the other. If a town's pop- 

 ulation remains static, it is unlikely that the amount of taxable wealth 

 will materially decline, but will either also remain static or increase. 

 If the town inventory increases, while population remains the same, 

 the property tax will become less burdensome and the people will 

 tend to appropriate and spend more freely, unless the increase is the 

 result of new building by nonresidents who demand public services 

 (roads, garbage collection, etc.), the costs of which are out of propor- 

 tion to the added valuation. On the other hand, assuming a rapidly 

 declining population, it is unlikely that the town's inventory will in- 



Table 7. The Relation of Assessed Valuation per Capita to Town Expenses, 

 Town Property Taxes, and Other Factors 



Assessed valuation 

 per capita 



Range 



Actual 



Num- 

 ber 

 of 



towns 



Population in 1940 



Per 

 town 



Percent 



of 



1930 



All towns $1,025 



100 



715 



20.3 



n.z 



Assessed 



valuation 



per 



town 



Less than $800 $ IZI 29 854 28.2 85.5 108.2 $624,980 



$800 to $999 910 25 IZl 19.8 73.0 108.4 671,040 



$1,000 to $1,199 1,078 21 111 22.0 86.6 107.9 832,150 



$1,200 and over 1,727 25 483 12.4 61.9 105.4 834,528 



107.7 $732,388 



Assessed valuation 

 per capita 



Less than $800 

 $800 to $999 

 $1,000 to $1,199 

 $1,200 and over 



All towns 



Town expenses 



Per Per 



town capita 



$14,462 

 15,122 

 15.618 

 14,131 



$16.94 

 20.51 

 20.24 

 29.24 



Town property tax 



Per 



town 



$9,419 

 9,579 

 9,792 

 9,283 



Per 

 capita 



Percent 



of_ 

 valuation 



Percent 



of total 



property 



tax 



$11.04 

 12.99 

 12.69 

 19.21 



1.51 

 1.43 

 1.18 

 1.11 



41.2 

 41.4 

 35.5 

 40.4 



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



1.30 



39.7 



