ROAD MILEAGE^ CElsTTEAL AND WESTERN STATES. 29 



The county boards in counties in which there may be territory not organized for 

 township purposes may levy a tax of not to exceed 15 mills on each dollar of assessed 

 value of real and personal property in such unorganized territory for road and bridge 

 purposes. Such levy is made in addition to the le\'y for county road and bridge 

 purposes and is expended under the dii-ection of the county board. The board of 

 each county may levy not to exceed 3 mills on each dollar of taxable property in the 

 county for the construction and maintenance of State and county roads and bridges. 

 The proceeds of such tax levy is placed in a fund known as the " county road and 

 bridge fund." From this the county appropriates to any town in the county such 

 sums as it deems advisable to aid such town in the construction and maintenance of 

 roads. 



The coimcil of any village,'' borough, or city of the fourth class, or the town board 

 of any town may appropriate and expend reasonable sums to assist in the improve- 

 ment and maintenance of roads lying beyond its boundaries and leading to it. There 

 may be levied in each town a tax of not to exceed 1 mill on each $1 of taxable property 

 therein, outside the corporate limits of any borough, city, or village, for a separate 

 fund to be known as the " dragging fund" and to be used for dragging the roads of the 

 town. 



The electors of each town at their annual town meeting determine the amount to 

 be raised by taxation for road and bridge purposes in the town, not exceeding 15 

 mills on each dollar of taxable property. In case of emergency, after the annual 

 town meeting, the town board may levy a tax of not to exceed 5 mills for road and 

 bridge purposes. 



Counties and towns may issue bonds for road and bridge purposes when authorized 

 by a majority of those voting at an election thereon. 



State convicts may be used in the preparation of road materials and county convicts 

 may be used in performing labor on the public highways. 



ROAD MILEAGE. 



At the close of 1914 Minnesota had 93,517 miles of public road, of which 3,967.83 

 miles, or 4.24 per cent, were surfaced as follows: macadam 120.25 miles, bituminous 

 macadam 19 miles, gravel 2,825.25 miles, sand-clay 985.33 miles, brick 0.5 mile, and 

 concrete 17.5 miles. A total of 15,377.5 miles of graded and drained earth roads was 

 reported for 1914. At the close of 1909 Minnesota had 79,323 miles of public road, 

 of which 5,416.85 miles, or 6.83 per cent were reported as surfaced, indicating a loss 

 in surfaced roads of 1,449.02 miles. This apparent loss probably is due to over- 

 estimates of sxirfaced roads made by the various counties in 1909. The 1914 figtu-es 

 were checked by the State highway department and probably are more accurate than 

 those secured in 1909. Detailed information in regard to road mileage at the close of 

 1914 is presented in Table 16. 



REVENUES APPLIED TO ROADS AND BRIDGES. 



The total revenue applied to roads and bridges in 1914 amounted to $6,458,940.07, 

 of which $4,388,254.15 was derived from general county and township taxation; 

 $1,400,000 received from the State by the counties as State aid; $97,100.92 received 

 from various other sources; $143,785 appropriated for the maintenance of the State 

 highway department, and $429,800 expended by counties and townships from local 

 bond funds. The State-aid fund is derived from a 1-mill tax and the amount 

 received from this tax is shown in the last column of Table 39. The total revenue 

 applied to roads and bridges in 1904 amounted to $1,961,629.24, an increase for the 

 10-year period of $4,497,310.83 or 229.26 per cent. Detailed information showing the 

 revenue applied to roads and bridges in 1914 is presented by counties in Table 39. 



