ECONOMIC SURVEYS OF COUNTY HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENT. 683 
call. If the bonds are retired on a straight sinking-fund basis and 
it is assumed that 3 per cent is realized from the sinking fund, the 
annual amount necessary to be raised would be $7,356 for sinking fund 
and $17,500 for interest, or a total average annual outlay of $24,856, 
and the total cost to the county for principal and interest would be 
$745,700. If 4 per cent is realized on the sinking fund the annual 
amount necessary to be raised would be $6,240 for sinking fund and 
$17,500 for interest, a total average annual cost for principal and 
interest of $23,740, or a grand total for the 30-year period of $712,200. 
Contrasted with this method, it may be pointed out that if the bonds 
were issued on a 5-30 year deferred serial method the annual cost 
would be $22,166 and the total cost $665,000, or a saving as compared 
with the sinking-fund method of $80,702 where only 3 per cent is 
realized on the sinking fund, or $47,216 if 4 per cent is realized. It 
therefore follows that if the commissioners take up the bonds only 
as they find it practicable, the relative economy as compared with the 
other two methods can not be determined until it is known what 
success they meet with in redeeming the bonds. The deferred serial 
method would have been free from this element of uncertainty, and 
the necessary tax rate could have been ascertained definitely. 
There is no special tax levy to provide funds for the road bonds, 
as all the payments for interest and sinking fund are taken from the 
general county levy. In 1910 the general levy for county purposes 
was 5 mills on the dollar, in addition to which there was a levy of 2 
mills for bridges and 6.5 mills for State purposes, or a total of 13.5 
mills. In 1915 the tax rate had increased to 7 mills for county pur- 
poses, the bridge tax had decreased to 0.5 mill, and the State tax 
remained at 6.5 mills, making a total of 14 mills, or an increase over 
the 1910 rate of only 0.5 mill. There is also a statute labor or head tax 
of 10 days, which may be paid in cash at the rate of 50 cents per day. 
The poll tax, from which $1,519 was derived in 1915, is applied to 
schools. Just what the tax burden for the road bonds should be 
under the various possible plans may be indicated as follows: The 
assessed valuation for 1915 was $14,068,610. It would therefore be 
necessary to levy on such a valuation a rate of 1.76 mills on the dollar 
to produce the $24,856 annually to retire the bonds on the 3 per cent 
sinking-fund plan, or 1.68 mills to provide the $23,740 annually 
necessary if 4 per cent is obtained on the sinking fund. If the 5-30 
year serial method had been adopted,the $22,166 annually required 
would be obtained by a levy of 1.56 mills on the dollar on the basis 
of the 1915 valuation. Therefore the construction of the improved 
roads under the bond issue represents an annual outlay constituting 
about 12.6 per cent of the total tax burden of the county. ‘This 
should not prove oppressive, as it is probable that property values 
will increase and that the rate will correspondingly decrease. Even 
