ECONOMIC SUEVEYS OF COUNTY HIGHWAY IMPEOVEMENT. 29 



deferred serial method, with the first bonds f aUiiig due 6 years from 

 date of issue and the last bonds 25 years from date of issue, had been 

 adopted, the average annual outlay for interest and retirement of 

 bonds would be $8,044. Under the arrangement actually adopted it 

 is planned that the sinking fund is to bear 4 per cent interest and the 

 annual outlay, if adequate provision is made for sinkuig fund and 

 interest to retire the bonds at the end of the twenty-fifth year, would 

 be $8,721.26. Thus the difference in favor of the serial method would 

 be $677.24 per annum, or a total of $16,931, and the debt would 

 be Hquidated within the same period of years under either plan. 



The total expenditure from the bond fmid to September 30, 1915, 

 was $86,203.41, leaving a balance in the bond fund of $18,296.59, 

 which was deposited in banks at an interest rate of 4 per cent. It 

 seems that the county sold most of the bonds before the money was 

 actually needed, and accordingly the unexpended balance cost the 

 taxpayers nearly 2 per cent interest over and above the rate allowed 

 by the banks. If the bonds had been sold as needed, a saving of some 

 thousands of dollars possibly might have been effected. 



As indicating the relation which the tax burden for roads and for 

 the bond issues bears to the taxes for other purposes, the details are 

 given in Table 10, 



Table 10. — Detail of tax rates, 1910 and 1915. 





Purpose. 



Rates in cents 

 per SIOO. 





1910 



1915 



State tax 



35 



20 

 23 

 20 



10 



General county purposes 



30 





25 



County roads 



20 



Road bonds 



10 



District schools 



20 

 5 



20 



School bonds - - - 



5 









Total 



120 



120 







From this levy there was obtained in 1910 from the assessed 

 valuation of $4,428,584 a total revenue of about $53,143, of which 

 about $8,857, or 16.6 per cent, was for county roads. No tax was 

 levied in that year for the road bonds. The 1915 levy on the taxable 

 valuation of $5,985,140 produced $71,861.28 for aU purposes, of which 

 $11,970.28, or 16.6 per cent, was for county roads and $5,985.14, or 

 8.3 per cent, was for mterest and sinking fund on road bonds. This 

 amount was insufficient to pay the interest on the road bonds, amount- 

 ing to $6,200, but the difference was made up by the 4 per cent 

 obtained from the banks on cash balances of bonds sold. No pro- 

 vision has yet been made for the establishment of a sinking fund, and 

 it must be evident that' if the bonds are to be paid at maturity, such 



