RT7KAL HIGHWAY MILEAGE, INCOME, AND EXPENDITURES 5 
But not all the revenue paid by or on account of the motor vehicle 
reaches our road funds; on the contrary, the major portion is diverted 
to other funds or for other purposes. A very substantial contribu- 
tion is made to the Federal Government in the form of excise taxes 
on cars, trucks, tires, parts, etc. This tax is paid into the Federal 
Treasury and is used for the general support of the Government. 
In theory, perhaps, a portion of this money may be said to be paid 
back to the States in Federal aid for roads. The amount thus paid 
back in the fiscal year 1921 amounted to §55,974,305, which was 
less than half of the tax paid. The taxes paid by the motor vehicle 
as personal property taxes and wheel taxes do not reach, in general, 
the road funds at all. For 1921 the gross income from motor vehicle 
registration fees and licenses, gasoline taxes. Federal excise taxes, and 
personal property and wheel taxes on motor vehicles, was as follows : 
State registration fees and licenses $122, 478, 654 
Gasoline taxes 5, 302, 260 
Federal excise taxes on cars, trucks, tires, parts, etc_ _ 115, 546, 249 
Personal property and wheel taxes (approximate) _ _ 56, 100, 000 
Total (approximate) 299, 427, 163 
For 1922 the gross receipts from these sources were as follows: 
State registration fees and licenses A $152, 047, 823 
Gasoline taxes 11, 923, 443 
Federal excise taxes on cars, trucks, tires, parts, etc. _ 104, 433, 763 
Personal property and wheel taxes (approximate) _ _ 60, 000, 000 
Total (approximate) 328, 405, 029 
In all but 16 States motor vehicles are taxed as personal property 
while many cities and other municipalities levy wheel taxes or special 
license fees. 
HIGHWAY EXPENDITURES 
The total disbursements during 1921 by all States, counties, 
townships, and districts for all highway purposes including interest 
and payments on highway bonds, amounted to SI, 036, 587,772. Of 
this total $626,965,373, or 60.5 per cent, was expended for work 
olassed as construction; $248,593,169, or 24 per cent, for work 
classed as maintenance; $36,031,353, or 3.5 per cent, -for adminis- 
tration and engineering; $89,280,946, or 8.6 per cent, for the pay- 
ment of principal and interest on highway bonds, and $35,716,931, 
or 3.4 per cent, for the purchase and repair of machinery and equip- 
ment, the purchase of quarries, gravel pits, and all other items or 
parts of items not properly chargeable to construction, mainte- 
nance, or administration for the year 1921. 
It seems to be a quite general practice, especially of the counties 
and towns, to class as construction a large amount of work on earth 
roads and sometimes on sand-clay and gravel roads which is evi- 
dently of such temporary character that it should rightly be classed 
as maintenance. This accounts at least in part for the large amount 
of earth road construction reported by a few States. A large por- 
tion of this work consists simply of light grading with a road machine 
Expenditures for engineering constitute another item for which 
fully segregated data could not be secured. In some localities 
these expenditures were almost invariably included as a part of the 
expenditures for construction or maintenance. 
