LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION 151 



crease or even remain static, but will decline, at least in the long run. 

 In the short run, however, it is conceivable that taxable wealth will 

 remain relatively constant because the owners, now nonresidents, will 

 retain title and pay taxes into the community for many years in hopes 

 of a sale. A high assessed valuation per capita which results from 

 a decline in population alone is of no economic gain to the remaining 

 taxpayers. In other words, differences in tax burdens cannot be ex- 

 plained- by generalities concerning the ratio of taxable wealth to pop- 

 ulation. The ratio is as frequently a result as it is a cause. There 

 are as many situations as there are towns, and each requires individual 

 investigation. This inquiry is one of comparative analysis, however, 

 and therefore can only be general in application, but knowledge of its 

 inferences should improve the deductions from case analyses. 



Relation of Population and Assessed Valuation to the Distribution 



of Town Expenses 



The relation of variations in population per town and in assessed 

 valuation per town to the amounts and percentage distribution of in- 

 dividual expense items is shown in Tables 8 and 9, respectively. It is 

 impractical to assume that the averages presented in these tables can 



Table 8. The Relation of Population per Town to the Distribution of Town 

 Expenses 



