10 BULLETIN 38*7^ U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The courts of county commissioners, boards of revenue, or other 

 like governing bodies, may, for the purpose of maintaining roads, 

 bridges or ferries, impose upon the owners of vehicles used upon the 

 pubHc roads of the county such license taxes as they may deem advis- 

 able. On vote of a majority of the qualified electors of a county 

 voting at an election held for that purpose, bonds may be issued for 

 public improvements or to pay debts created for such improvements, 

 including the building of roads and bridges, but the aggregate amount 

 of indebtedness that may thus be created shall not exceed 3 per cent 

 of the assessed value of the property in such county. Said courts, 

 or boards, may levy and collect such special taxes as they may deem 

 necessary, not to exceed one-fourth of 1 per cent of the assessed value 

 of property in the county, for the purpose of paying any debt or lia- 

 bility created, or that may be created, for erecting public buildings or 

 constructing roads and bridges. 



Convicts of a county may be worked on its roads, bridges or ferries, 

 or in the preparation of road materials, or said convicts may be hired 

 to or from another county or from the State. 



REVENUES APPLIED TO ROADS AND BRIDGES IN 1914. 



It was impossible to secure complete information on taxation and 

 revenues from every county in the State, but from the reports 

 received it appears that $2,488,805.51 was received from taxation 

 and applied to roads in 1914. Of this amount $612,095.02 was 

 obtained from the regular levy, $103,822 from statute labor tax 

 paid in cash, $91,237.59 from general fimds and applied to interest 

 and principal on road bonds, and $1,681,650.90 from general and 

 special funds. 



Fifteen out of the 67 counties in the State report that they are 

 still making use of the statute labor tax. A total of 47,600 men is 

 reported as having worked the roads from 3^ to 10 days each. The 

 cash value of this labor at the prevaiHng rate of wages amounted to 

 $302,025. 



By adding $302,025, the cash value of the labor tax, and $1,013,210, 

 the amount obtained from bond issues and expended on roads in 

 1914, and $144,978, the State-aid appropriation for 1914, to the totals 

 above, it appears that the aggregate expenditure for roads m 

 1914 amounted to $3,949,019. This includes $91,237.59 paid out by 

 counties for interest and principal on road bonds. It was impracti- 

 cable to separate this item from the total. In 1904 the total prop- 

 erty and labor tax amounted to $1,576,434.27, thus showing that 

 during the past 10 years the road revenues increased $2,372,584.73, 

 or 150.5 per cent. 



The use of the statute labor tax appears to have declined steadily 

 since 1904, for during that year 153,419 men were reported as having 



