ECONOMIC SURVEYS OF COUNTY HIGHWAY Mate Nees A S0CI 13 
70 cents; for 1914, 35 cents; thus producing a total of $25,243.49, 
to which should ne added whatever was obtained from the 3 per 
cent allowed by the banks on sinking-fund deposits. Inasmuch as 
the interest for the first 5 years amounted to only $14,517.50, this 
left $11,725.99 plus the interest on the sinking fund. With this 
amount, $11,000 of the bonds had been retired at the beginning of 
1915. A levy of 65 cents on the hundred dollars was made in 1915, 
from which $9,917.50 was obtained, and on December 13, 1915, the 
bonded debt was further reduced to the extent of $2,000. At the 
rate of payment and taxation thus far adopted, the district will be 
out of debt long before the expiration of the 30-year term; but 
' whether this rapid payment is desirable under all existing conditions. 
must remain a matter of judgment. 
An inspection of tax rates shows that in 1910 the taxpayers of 
Courtland district paid, exclusive of the 40 cents levied for road 
bonds, a total of 95 cents on the hundred dollars, or a total for all 
purposes, including State, county, and road-bond taxes, of $1.35, 
of .which the bond taxes formed 29.6 per cent. The levying of a 
65-cent tax rate in 1915 made the total tax for that year $1.70 on 
the hundred dollars. Thus the road bonds in 1915 formed 38.2 per 
cent of all taxes paid in Courtland district. In both years the 
- general road and bridge tax was 15 cents on the hundred dollars. 
To see how this would affect the individual taxpayer, let us assume 
that a man owns a $5,000 farm, which is assessed at $3,000, or a little 
more than the usual basis of assessment in the county. He will 
pay taxes for all purposes in 1915 at $1.70, a total of $51, of which 
$19.48 will represent his share of the tax for the improved roads. 
This 65-cent rate is higher than the average, however, and it would 
seem more equitable to estimate his tax burden at 40 cents on the 
hundred doilars, as was levied in 1910. This would make his annual 
outlay for the improved roads $12. Against this cost he must place 
the saving in wear and tear of his teams and wagons, the opportunity 
which he has gained of hauling larger loads, of doing his hauling at 
all seasons of the year, and of saving time in making his trips to 
market. It is safe to say that the average possessor of a $5,000 
farm would gladly pay such a tax per year in return for a guarantee . 
of these benefits. 
Chancellor district, which voted $40,000 in bonds, levied a still 
higher rate of tax for bond purposes than Courtland, as the rate was 
50 cents for 1910 and 1911, 55 cents for 1912, and 65 cents for 1913, 
1914, and 1915. The total tax rate for 1910 was $1.40 for all pur- 
poses, State, county, and bonds, and in 1915 was $1.85. Thus the 
bond-issue tax comprised 35.7 per cent of the total in 1910 and 35.1 
per cent of the total in 1915. During the 5-year period from 1910 
to 1914, the district raised $15,865 to apply to the bonds, of which 
