National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-01-19
NECESSITY OF THE BILL.
The following letter Of the Commissioners ex
plains their views OF the necessity Of the bill:

plains their views Of the necessity Of the bill:
OFFICE OF THE CoMMIssIoNERs OF THE}
Hon. N z. Chapman, Delegate, DC:
SIR: The Commissioners send you herewith a
draft of bill for the support Of the government
Of the District Of Columbia for the fiscal year
ending June 30, 1916, and will thank you to have
You are aware that the present tax levy expires
with the current fiscal year. The bill is so drawn
as to be adapted to any form Of government Con-
gress may establish. You will note that the rate
Of tax and the distribution to the various funds
are left blank, the filling Of which will depend on
the rate Of the tax and the basis Of valuation on
which the levy is calculated. Accompanying the
bill you will find estimates Of expenditures for
1876 not including the interest the 3.65 bonds;
and q one and half per cent. tax, on a valuation
Of $eS 23l 0OO the present valuation, and on tS0,
100000. AS a valuation aud the realty in the Dis
the present valuation, we have taken 500, 900 900
as one Of the bases for calculation.
The entire estimated expenditures, less the in
on the 365 bonds is 1885, OOO which, with the above
estimate, makes total Of S3,l 800. All this
sum must of course, be realized to meet the esti-
mated expenditures. You will observe that the
highest valuation Of two per cent. on the present
valuation will yield but 81 ,964,620. From this
should be deducted an amount to meet the failure
in the payment OF taXes-say not less than fifteen
per cent 1924 3)-leavng 81 927 the largest
amount that can be relied upon. On the one and
one half per cent assessments ten per cent. would
probably cover the delinquency Of taxes. All
this, Of course, is an approximation. The differ
ence between the amount received from taxes,
from licenses ESTIMATED att about S175, 000) and
from water rents, ESTIMATED at about $65, O0O,)
which constitute substantially all the revenue Of
the District, will have to be provided for by Con-
gressiOnal appropriation, the amount Of the ap-
preparation depending upon the rate Of tax and
the basis Of valuation. The leading features Of
the proposed bill, so far as they differ from the
present tax system OF the District, are: First,
uniform rate OF tax over all the District secondly,
the payment of taxes in semi-annusl installments;
thirdly, the abolition Of attachments for advanced
naTnfG oHN hn nf rNar a1f FnH
payment; fourthly, for the collection and more
Immediate enforcement of the payment Of taxes
in arrears
The present system Of collection Is very faulty
and renders 1t almost impossible to make any
reliable calculations of receipts from taxes. The
Commissioners are not little embarrassed on
this account. The amount of taxes received
able less than the amount estimated by the col
lector, and stated in his report, which was the
basis on which we made our estimate of receipts,
will thank you to hand this note q copy of
the same to the committee to which the bill shall
be referred for the purpose OF explanation. You
will observe that the last section OF the bill re-
quires that before making any contract for special
improvements the plan for such improvements
must first be submitted to the chief engineer Of
the army, and his approval be obtained to the
plan itself, and also to its eXpedency and neces-
siIy. Furthermore, no contract even for neces-
sary work can be made In excess Of the means
previously provided by Congressional enactment,
of such necessary work legally chargesble against
the property of individuals.
Very respectfully,
w. DENNIsoN,
]. H. KErCHAM,
Commissioners.