ECOISrOMIC SURVEYS OF COUJSTTY HIGHWAY IMPEOVEMENT. 81 



piu'poses decreased 1^ mills; the levy for outstanding- road warrants, 

 which was only 1 mill in 1905, had been ehminated in 1915; the levy 

 for school indebtedness, which amounted to 3 mills in 1905, was 

 absent in 1915; and the levy of 1 mill for county clerk's office 

 indebtedness in 1905 had been eliminated in 1915; so that these 

 savings more than compensated for the increase due to the road 

 bonds, and made it possible to increase the general leAn^ for roads 

 and bridges of 3 mills in 1905 to 5 mills in 1915, and to make a 3-J-miIl 

 levy in 1915 for county buildings. As compared with 1910, it will be 

 noted that the tax rate for 1915 was one-half mill less and that in 

 spite of this reduction the receipts from taxation increased 140 per 

 cent. A further rather interesting comparison is shown by the fact 

 that while in 1905 the roads required 25 per cent of the taxes, they 

 required, including bond taxes in 1915, 33.2 per cent of the taxes. 



The road and bridge taxes and the road-bond taxes are levied on 

 all property in the county, including incorporated cities, but one-half 

 of all road and bridge taxes collected from cities are returned to them 

 for the improvement of streets within corporate limits. In addition 

 to the regular road tax there is a statute labor tax of 3 days or S3 

 for all residents of rural districts who are non-freeholders. The 

 amount of work accomplished and the receipts from this source, 

 however, are inconsiderable. 



On January 18, 1910, Englewood district voted $75,000 worth of 

 road and bridge bonds, but they have not yet been issued. With 

 this money 26 miles of road are to be graded and a portion of the 

 road surfaced with sand-asphalt. 



On January 11, 1916, the Sarasota- Venice district voted $250,000 

 worth of road and bridge bonds. Of this amount $210,000 will be 

 expended for roads and $40,000 for bridges.. With the $210,000 it is 

 proposed to build 34 miles of sand-asphalt roads and grade 14 addi- 

 tional miles. The deferred serial type of bonds wiU be issued in both 

 of these special districts. They wiU bear 6 per cent interest and vdW 

 be retired in 5, 10, 15, and 20 years. 



Manatee district is contemplating the issuance of $239,000 of road 

 and bridge bonds. 



The coimty has $97,445 of outstanding warrants which were issued 

 for the purpose of budding a court house. These bear 6 per cent 

 interest and are to be paid off in five annual installments, covering 

 the period 1913 to 1917, inclusive. There are also $285,000 of school 

 warrants outstanding. These bear 6 per cent interest and must be 

 paid in 20 years. 



From the above it vnR be seen that the total debt of the county is 

 $957,445, which represents 11.8 per cent of the 1915 assessed valua- 

 tion. 



47234°— Bull. 393—16 -6 



