ECONOMIC SURVEYS OF COUNTY HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENT. 49 
30 days per annum. The district road superintendents, one for each — 
district, are appointed by the board of county supervisors for terms 
of 2 years and receive $3.50 per day for time actually employed. 
There are no toll roads. 
HOW THE ROADS ARE MAINTAINED. 
Very little has been done previous to the present season toward 
the maintenance of the roads improved, except to keep ditches and 
culverts open. The roads were beginning to show signs of wear and, 
in 1915, 24 miles were surface-treated with bituminous material and 
stone chips at a cost of about $400 per mile, paid from bond-issue 
funds. About one-half gallon of bituminous material and 21 pounds 
of screenings were used to the square yard. The roads which were 
treated are the most heavily traveled roads of the county. This work 
was done by the district superintendents under the general direc- 
tion of the board of county supervisors. 
The use of bond issue funds for maintenance is exceedingly unwise 
_as the debt outlives the temporary improvement by many years. 
EFFECT OF ROAD IMPROVEMENT ON LAND VALUES. 
A comparison of assessed valuations brings out the fact that in 
1910, the year in which the bonds were voted, the assessed valua- 
tion was $11,011,788 and that in 1915 it had increased to $13,629,383, 
a gain of $2,617,595, or 23.7 per cent. The mineral lands, which 
formed 43.6 per cent of the total value of all property in 1915, showed 
a decrease of 4 per cent in value, as some lands which were assessed 
as mineral lands in 1910 were assessed as nonmineral lands in 1915, 
and furthermore, the building of the improved roads would naturally 
have a comparatively slight effect upon the value of mineral lands, 
as the operation of the mines depends more upon railroad than pub- 
lic-road facilities. The nonmineral lands, however, increased nearly 
31 per cent from 1910 to 1915. It is difficult to gauge the increase 
in actual values by assessed valuation figures, as the relation between 
assessed value and actual value varies from 20 to 90 per cent, and 
probably averages about 60 per cent of the actual value. | 
Personal investigation, however, as to sale values brought out 
some convincing evidence as to the effect of the improved roads upon 
sale values. Of the large number of individual cases considered, 
-eight, selected as fairly representative, are presented in this chapter. 
The value of these eight farms located on improved roads in various 
parts of the county increased 61.9 per cent, or from an average of 
$49.06 per acre before the roads were improved to $79.44 after the 
roads were improved, and it is commonly accepted in the county 
that the increased value was due almost entirely to the road im- 
provement. 
47234°Bull. 393 16——4 
