COLUMBIA LIBRARIES OFFSITE AVERY FINE ARTS RESTRICTED AR01 498509 l88Ued A P ril 18 > 1907 - United States Department of Agriculture, OFFICE OF PUBLIC ROADS— Circular No. 74. LOGAN WALLER PAGE, Director. PUBLIC ROADS OF NEW YORK: MILEAGE AM) EXPENDITURES IN 1904." MILEAGE OF ROADS. The accompanying table shows that in 1904 there were 73,798 miles of public road in the State of New York. Of this mileage, 707 miles were surfaced with stone under the State-aid plan, 1,477 miles were surfaced with stone by the towns, and 3,692 miles were surfaced with gravel by the towns, making in all 5,876 miles of improved road. It will be seen from these figures that 7.9 per cent of the roads has been improved. By comparing the total road mileage with the area of the State, it appears that there were 1.54 miles of public road per square mile of area. A comparison of mileage with population shows that there was 1 mile of road to every 98 inhabitants and 1 mile of improved road to every 1,237 inhabitants. SOURCES OF REVENUE. STATE AID. In the permanent improvement of State-aid roads, under the Higbie- Armstrong law, the State pays 50 per cent of the cost, the county 35 per cent, and the town or property owners benefited, 15 per cent. The State's share in the improvement of State-aid roads is appro- priated by the legislature from the general treasury, and it has increased from $50,000 in 1898, when the first State-aid law was passed, to over $1,000,000 in 1904. The share of the counties and towns in the improvement of State-aid roads is paid out of special taxes levied for the purpose, which must be paid in money. The State also contributes aid under the Fuller-Plank act, which established what is known as the "money system" as distinguished from the old labor system. In towns which adopt the money system the State contributes 50 cents for every dollar raised by the town for the repair of highways provided these funds are expended according to the direction of the State engineer; but a proviso in this law limits the aid given by the State, in towns the assessed property valuation of which is $1,000,000 or more, to one-tenth of 1 per cent of the assessed valuation. THE MONEY SYSTEM. The towns which have adopted the money system raise an annual property tax for road purposes which must be equal to at least one- lialr the value at the commutation rates of the highway labor which would be assessed if the labor system were in force. This tax is not assessed against property in incorporated villages. In addition to the property tax every able-bodied male citizen between the ages of 21 and 70 years, unless by law exempt, is required to pay an annual poll tax of SI for road purposes. " This leaflet is one of a series issued by the Office of Public Roads, in which road statistics are given by States. The Department is indebted to the State engineer and surveyor of New York for all the information given in the table. It is believed, there- fore, that the figures can be accepted as correct and that they will form a valuable basis for comparison and for future work of this kind. — Logan Waller Page, Director. ' 28567— No. 74—07 11 • SS8388 sift* HI AS, Is! II ill ■81S1 i :S : : :3 : i iSS jss" isJWiM j i is i i iss ill 11121 i is ! : :s : i iSB las* i ;«* i S8SSS88S88888SSSS888S8 |8V rf ffiS8B8"88fsrB , **jMsfi J, |ft« 88 is S3 li S8" ii ill! HI ml ?!sSSfiSUP?r,?,2?:sgSS22?!*fig :SSSS22 58 iissl§gs^f:195ii^§ii§§c-i§sis^ mmm mi »