34 BULLETrN 389, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



REVENUES APPLIED TO ROADS AND BRIDGES. 



The total revenue applied to roads in 1914 amounted to $2,888,400.61, exclusive 

 of Phillips County, from which no report was received. Of this amount $1,764,957.88 

 was received from the general county road and bridge tax, $1,007,452.02 from county 

 funds left over from 1913 and special fxmds, $102,475 from county bond issues, and 

 $13,515.71 from State motor vehicle fund. 



The total revenue applied to roads and bridges in 1904 amounted to $404,097.81, a 

 gain in the 10-year period of $2,484,302.80, or 614.77 per cent. * Detailed informa- 

 tion regarding road and bridge taxation and revenues for 1914 is given in Table 41. 



ROAD AND BRIDGE BONDS. 



The total road and bridge bonds outstanding on January 1, 1915, amounted to 

 $2,224,050.72, of which $462,000 were voted in 1914 and $440,000 sold the same year. 

 There was expended from bond funds a total of $102,475 and there was retired $33,000. 

 All bonds issued in 1914 bear from 5 to 5^ per cent interest and run for 20 years. 

 Detailed information on this subject is presented in Table 62. 



NEBRASKA.i 



Nebraska has a land area of 76,808 square miles, a total road mileage of 80,272, of 

 which 1,204. 54'miles, or 1.5 per cent, were sinfaced at the close of 1914. 



There is a State board of irrigation, highways, and drainage, composed of the 

 governor, the attorney general, and the commissioner of public lands and buildings. 

 The board elects a sea-etary, who must be a civil engineer and is known as the State 

 engineer. The board advises with and aids the county boards in the preparation of 

 plans and estimates and in the supervision of highway work. This is done through 

 an advisory board of three men well versed in road building, together with a secretary 

 who must be a civil engineer and practical road builder and is known as the State 

 highway engineer. These are appointed by the State board, are removable by it, 

 and serve without compensation. Whenever any funds are provided by the State 

 for the construction of roads and bridges, the work is carried on under the direct su- 

 pervision of the State board of irrigation, highways, and drainage. The advisory 

 board is required to make a biennial report to the governor. 



The State board of irrigation is made a State board of supervision for bridges to be 

 located and constructed or purchased under State aid. A tax of one-fifth of 1 mill 

 is levied annually on each dollar of thegrand assessment roll of the State for the State- 

 aid bridge fund, to be appropriated by the legislature to aid in the building of bridges 

 across rivers of a width of 175 feet or more, the cost to be paid one-half by the State 

 and one-half by the county. Application for such aid must be made to the State 

 board of irrigation by the county boards. After such bridges are constructed the duty 

 of maintaining them devolves upon the county, unless maintenance cost exceeds 

 $100, in which event the State pays one-half. 



Counties under township organization are divided by the county board of commis- 

 sioners into seven supervisor districts. Each district elects a supervisor, the seven 

 constituting the county board of supervisors, which divides the coimty into town- 

 ships. The town clerk, assessor, and justice of the peace constitute the town board 

 in each township. Each supervisor has charge of the expenditure of fimds appro- 

 priated by the board out of the county treasury for the roads and bridges within his 

 district. Counties under township organization may vote to have township super- 

 visors, in which event one supervisor is elected from each township and the super- 

 visors thus elected constitute the county board of supervisors. Township boards 

 s , 



1 The information relative to the State of Nebraska was collected, under the direction of this office, by 

 George E. Johnson, State engineer, and collaborator of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



