13 
nature of taxes on real property, while in the rural districts there is 
the Parish Roads Tax, levied at so much per every able-bodied male 
in each parish. There is also a tax on dogs both in towns and country 
districts, but this tax is of minor importance, especially in the towns. 
The few local profit-yielding undertakings are all of a late date, and 
mostly of the nature of Water Works and Electrical Plants, besides 
the Gas Works and the public baths in Reykjavik. 
Almost one-fourth of the receipts of the parish funds (for the year 
1926), or 428 thousand krénur, is paid into the district funds 
(spslusjédir), which, as there are no taxes payable to them directly, 
have no regular revenues worth mentioning, except this contribution. 
In 1926 the chief items of expenditure were as follows: 
Municipal Funds Parish Funds District Funds 
1000 krénur 1000 krénur 1000 kronur 
Administration . 
Poor relief . . . 
Sanitation . . . . 
Education and Schools 
Roads » . . . . . 
Other communications 
Rural husbandry . . 
Fire service . . . . . 
Police . . . , . . . 
Interest on debt . . . 
Other expenditure | 
205 
387 
346 
120 
137 
65 
513 
64 
192 
106 
10 
any 
209 
*: 
210 
8 
67 
2 
D 
39 
132 
102 
nn 
35 
“2 
1138 
9 
Total expenditure 2 864 
371 
Total 
1000 krénur 
299 
1100 
620 
630 
510 
52 
57 
103 
132 
476 
2 
4373 
The current expenditure of municipalites, parishes, and districts thus 
amounts to nearly 4.4 million krénur. By far the biggest item in their 
accounts is the cost of poor relief, which absorbs 1.1 million krénur, 
or about one-fourth of the total disbursements. This burden is pro- 
portionally heavier in the rural than in the urban districts: namely 
one-third in the former, in the latter one-fifth of the current annual 
expenditure. Then come education and roads with rather more than 
600 thousand krénur each, or one-seventh of the total outlay. Almost 
the whole expenditure on education is accounted for by the elementary 
schools, while the amount spent on sanitation includes the portion, 235 
thousand krénur, payable by towns and districts towards defraying the 
cost of the campaign against tubercular diseases. Other items included 
under “Sanitation are grants made to hospitals and, to some extent 
to midwives also, and, in urban districts, such sums as are spent on 
scavenging and the cleaning of streets.