Seely OF Sek <5 : 
2A6 
ECONOMIC SURVEYS OF COUNTY HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENT. 29 
deferred serial method, with the first bonds falling 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 sinking 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 liquidated within the same period of years under either plan. 
The total expenditure from the bond fund 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. 
Rates in cents 
per $100. 
Purpose. 
— 
1910 1915 
Fea Le een ne ie et ne aegis 2 Se oe Ree eee 35 10 
iGEHera lL COUMLySpUl POSES a-2 Saas see eae On eR ND Sle ee eS Dkk eas 20 30 
SR OETERER a ESC OO ieee to eee IN aoe gt a a oe ZOEK 25 
Bneerninye One sei ee at re ee ern aee She FO ecw eae os oor eee ees PR See 20 20 
ERD EVEST OVERS a Re a ae ee Pe eee ee eee FR ee 10 
SIGE SERMONS eae he ee et est Re ee een soso PaaS A OOS UES Ris Se sak eine 20 20 
SEES NNER S 2 Pe A re age ere ee oe ae oO oe pe at | 5 5 
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 all 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 interest 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 smking fund, and 
it must be evident that if the bonds are to be paid at maturity, such 
