The primary purposes of this study are fourfold, namely: (1) to summarize the writings of specialists in school finance and public finance which are judged to have significance concerning the nature, source, control, and measurement of local fiscal ability; (2) to develop an analytical evaluation of the "bases" of the proposed measures; (3) to develop a criterion of the relative taxpaying ability of Arkansas counties in terms of the actual valuation of real property; and (4) to determine the significance of the association among the three measures and the relative significance of the degree of relationship of each measure to the criterion.