DKAINAGK DISTRICT ASSESSMENTS. 61 
SUMMABY. 
Dollars. 
Net benefits to wet land 
Net benefits to medium land 
Special benefits to dry land 
Additional charge for distance from the outlet. 
Additional charge for tile in place of open 
ditch 
Total assessed benefits 
DAMAGES. 
Dollars. 
Square rods taken for main ditch 
Square rods taken for lateral ditch 
Square rods taken for spoil bank 
Total value for land taken. 
Rental value of spoil bank for year. 
Allow for cutting fields 
Allow for bridges 
Allow for 
Total allowances. 
Total damages— 
REMARKS. 
" Wet land " includes all land not tillable in its present state in any aver- 
age season. 
" Medium land " includes all land which is tillable in any average season, 
but which can not be tilled in a wet season. 
" Dry land " includes all land not found in the first two classes but included 
within the drainage district. 
" Present value " means the actual market value of the land in question 
taken by itself, not its average value as a part of the farm to which it belongs. 
" Improved value " means the actual market value of the land in question 
taken by itself after the drainage system is completed and the land tile- 
drained and other drainage improvements made as allowed for on the as- 
sessment sheet. 
" Outlet " means an allowance given to land which is not given an outlet 
into the ditches for which the assessment is made. This allowance is equal 
to the cost of constructing a tile drain for that purpose. 
"Additional charge for tile in place of open ditch " is used where the im- 
provement is partly open ditch and partly tile and is equal in amount to the 
cost of the tile over the cost of the open ditch. 
"Special benefits to dry land " are benefits to health, convenience, and wel- 
fare. In one district (in 1916) these special benefits were assumed to be $1 
per acre. 
The space occupied by the spoil banks is either purchased outright or rented 
for a term, usually two years. The cost of leveling the spoil banks is usually 
allowed in the case of dredged ditches when the land is not purchased. The 
usual allowance for this is 25 cents per linear rod for each bank. 
The total cost of the work is determined from the engineer's estimates, 
and such part of the benefits are assessed as will equal the total cost of the 
work. 
This form is useful because it shows on its face many of the 
elements of benefit which must be considered by the commissioners. 
In using such a form, care must be taken to give full consideration 
to those things. which necessarily determine the two values of the 
land, such as the drainage properties of the undrained land and the 
amount of drainage or protection furnished by the district. 
The dividing of the land into classes is a practice to be used with 
caution. If used only to insure that the commissioners' ideas of 
