Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-03-02
DISTRICT FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT.
The Commissioners and the Issue Of
Tax Lien Certificates.

Tax Lien Ceftl1lCdueSs
TREASURER GILFILIAN WRITES TO THE SUB-COM-
MITTEE OF THE HOUSE DISTRICT COMMITTEES.
Treasurer Gilflllan has written the following
letter to Hon. Nelson w. Aldrich, of the District
committee
TREASURY DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, Feb
ruary 2s. 1ssO-Sir:-As the officer charged by
law with the custody OF all tax lien certificates
issued on account OF special assessments In the
District Of Columbia subsequent to May 20,
1913, and of all payments thereon, deem 1t my
duty to call attention to certain erroneous state
ments in the recent letter of the Commissioners
OF the District in answer to inquiries made by
you on behalf Of the House committee on the
allege that in May, 1876, the late board Of COM
mssioners finding gross errors to exist In nearly
all Of the assessments made by the board OF
public works, stopped tne issue OF TAX liz lien a cer,
certificates would unjustly cucumber the prop
erty OF citizens for taxes which they did not
owe;" and their whole reply is based on the
assumed injustice of enforcing these erroneous
assessments. Now, the fact is, as the record of
this office and the reports of the commissioners
abundantly show, that tax lien certificates were
issued for every assessment made by the board
of public works within six months after the
abolition OF that board, and that all of the
tax lien certificates issued from November,
made mad u by ai ihe Con Commssioners t m Themselves themseIVes
The Commissioners had for seventeen
months been issuing tax lien certificates against
Jlelr own assessments, Wnen lney stopped UQe
issue OF such certificates, on account, as they
now allege, of the gross errors or the board OF
public works. What reason the discovery OF
errors in the assessments OF the board of public
WorkS-fOr all OF which tax lien certificates had
been issued a year and half previousiy-fur-
nishes for stopping the issue of certificates
against their own assessments, with which the
board had nothing to do, is left for the commit
tee to guess. 1t would naturally be supposed
that as soon as the Commissioners discovered
that their mode OF computing the assessments
that thenceforth the assessments would have
been made and the tax lien certificates issued
for the correct amounts
What the errors could be which, although
known to exist, were not gross enough to pre-
vent making The assessments, but were Suf-
ficient to cause the Withholding during series
of years OF the tax lien certificates for these
assessments, detes comprehension. Any one
would suppose that an error which would war
rant the Withholding OF certificates, which the
law imperatiyely requires TO be issued against
the assessment, and where nOn-iSSue, il is
claimed, relieves the delinquent taxpayer from
any penalty whatever, would require the with
holding OF the assessment itself. But the Com
misSionerS adopted a different view OF their
duty, and, as their reports show, continued for
at least three years to levy special assessments
containing errors quite as gross as any OF those
for the board of public works.
Their report for 1878 opp pa 246) shows that
there had been received to that time, under the
act OF June 10, 1875, assessments OF the board OF
public works amounting to s., ,14O SS1.44, and
S9I2, ,640.36. The errors found on revision In the
assessments of the board of public works were
s2o9,9 922.3O, or less than 1Sh per cent of the
original assessments; while the errors found in
the assessments Of the Commissioners were
$272 O47.32 or nearly rs per cent of the original
assessments. The change in the form OF gov
erDment, it appears, instead OF correcting the
errors of the former administration, really in
creased them about 80 per cent.
The reports OF the Commissioners show that
they deliberately adopted the erroneous methods
hoard nuhlic works and levied
ments under them for 21I years without discov-
ertng their defects. In this sense alone is the
board Of public works M for the errors
have failed to issue tax lien certificates, On
August 26th, 1874, the assistant attorney of the
District, in an on-hand opinion contained in less
than four printed lines, advised that "the
ments be followed by the engineer" tReport
1878, p. 1907 The assessments Of the
commissioners We're accordingly made in
OF public works., and would appear to
have continued to be so made until January
1877, when the Commissioners discovered ap-
parentIy for the first time, that such errors had
been made as to devolve upon them 1.-THE duty
OF so modifying the rules OF assessment as to
bring them within the requirements of the law
Report, ls.t, PIP. $. 81, i42l on January lsth
certain notifications in the rules of assess
ments previously in force 1t is now alleged
that the issue of tax lien certificates was
y.
the board OF public works, but why assessments
continued to be made for eight months there
after under rules known to be erroneous is no
where where explained: M There IS not word in the
that any errors had been discovered in the
method Of levying special assessments, or any
reference to the stoppage of the issue Of the tax
lien certificates. On the contrary the report OF
the engineer shows p., 49, that the rules
OF the board of public works was still
being applied on November 80, 1876, and there
iS tprin natin hot thnHy had
otherwise than completely satisfactory. The
order OF January 18th, 1871 does not, however,
appear to have had the desired effect of pre-
venting the errors which after that date were as
gross as any that the board Of public works had
committed. To the date Of the report for 1873
the Commissioners had revised assessments
levied after the adoption OF the amended rules
amounting to s4s, ,OO7.32. The errors found there
in amounted to S22, ,450.15, or nearly Al per cent
OF the original assessments. The errors made
by the Commissioners in the assessment made
by themselves after their attempt to correct the
erroneous methods OF the boaru of public works.
were therefore more than two and nalf times
as great as the average errors discovered in the
assessments of that board. The very latest
assessment of the Commissioners revised by
them prior to their report of 1878, which assess
ment was made three years after the abolition
OF the board OF public works and six months
after the attempted correction of the erroneous
rules OF that board was reduced from $19, Co.'S OF
to S3.02SS4, or more than 81 per cent (Report
1875. p. 245l, and yet the claim is now put for
ward in a formal communication to a committee
OF Congress that tax lein certificates have not
been issued against these assessments on ac-
count OF the errors made by the board of public
works. Moreover, the replies OF the Commits
sioner TO the urgent and repeated demands
OF this Office for the delivery OF the
remainder of the tax lien certificates dis
tinctly admit that the errors We're made
by the former Commissioners, of whom
the present commissioners after, having issued
number OF assessments in persuance OF the
rules adopted by their predecessors, (the board
OF public works), became satisfied that these
rules did not comply entirely with the law OF
assessments; and that certain work done by the
suIveyo" in preparing assessments were done
under an erroneous Interpretation of these
rules that Is to say, they not only adopted the
erroneous rules Of the board of public works, but
placed an erroneous Interpretation upon them
by which the errors i'll the assessments were
still further increased. 1T is singular too that
board, the chairman OF which was an active
member OF the former board, and which had in
its possession all of the records of that board.
should require to be Informed" OF the acts of
its predecessors. The assessments thus made
under an erroneous Interpretation of erroneous
rules, and vaguely spoken Of as "a number of
assessments" were SO in number and covered
expenditures amounting to more than five mil
lions of dollars, report 1876, p 147). This letter
further says that the commissioners in con-
sequence suspended further issue of as
sessment certificates until an entire re-
vision OF all assessments could be maden
Now the issue of certificates was stopped as
the commissioners declare In May, 1916 while
the rules of assessments Ivera not chopnoS