Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-04-28
RENTAL As A BASIS.
Mr.. Warmers Letter 10 the Assessment In
vestigating Committse.

MI woruere k<cer TO the Aeseeseent In
vestigating COMMITTEES.
H sArs AL ASSESSMENTS FOR THE PAST THIRTY
SfAks RAVE BKKS vicIorsIr uSKorAL-wHr
HIS PLAN WOULD Ri BETrKR-MR- PHILLIPS,
THE AUTHOR OF rHk LITTER, AND a BIIL TX
AxrSKp.
The committee on the assessment OF prop
erty in the District still further advanced its
work yesterday afternoon. Mr.. Duvall vas the
last witness Of the day. Mr.. h II. Warner,
however, went on the stand again. and In an
swer 70 the question 70 what were his views
on taxation and his remedy for inequalities sub
mitted letter and the draft Of a bill which he
said carried out his i4eas and while not pre-
pared by him bore his name aud Endorsement
The letter, in substance, said:
ASSESSMENTS vrciousLY DETECTIVE
II have been familiar with every,asssssment
made In Washington city for the past thirty
years and there has never been one which
was not viciously defective. bearing severely
on some, Who we're generally the poorer class
With inexpensive Improvements, and fsvoring
tne richer, with large and important build
inGs, and see no reason to doubt that the
present assessment will be only a repetition Of
all previous misadventures. The reason in my
Judgment ID that the basis OF all these assess
aASatS NoS teAiNohy NFonSs tnht suc ouSlhls
| were required to arrive at the actual cash
value OF the property, which is always prob
lematcal, instead OF the assessment being
based upon the annual rental value OF the
property. This ID particularly applicable TO
Washington, where all its real estate has boon
| subject 10 boom caused by the speculation OF
| real estate operators.
Real estate is worth nothing excep. Ia i,s
capacity to produce rent, or its equivalent,
| useful occupation by the owner and the amount
k1 nfs Gni-a ~srfa l,afu
| quantity Of gold does that Of q coin, aud moth
| ing else does.
TaE PARAMOUNT CONSIDERATION.
The first and paramount consideration in
taxation should be equality of burden. The
| amount OF tax men are compelled to pay Is not
| so important as that the burden should be
equal, and this burden will always be unequal
| II assessors simply walk or drive along the
pubic streets, look at the front wsla of houses
| ana on that determine values. Nor are these
| othcials 20 be blamed, for in no case has Con-
gress given them any more time than enough
/ 10 drive around the squares of Washington
| ana note their opinions on the external appear
| a<ce OF each property. Besides, how can any
set OF men know the values Of all the lots in all
| .he localities OF Washington! The whole sf-
fair IN word, degenerates into an extensive
| system Of guessing.
| But If the rental value Of land be taken as
! the guide then there ID no uncertainty az to i'm
proved real estate. For every owner and
every tenant IN looking after their respective
| interests have solved this question in eyery
| case. You may depend upon II every owner is
1 getting as high rent as he possibly can for his
property ana he knows better than any body
Oh assessors can know its true value.
This scheme OF arriving At assessment values
from rental values has the great merit of being
| eminently just and makes every owner pay ac-
| cord1ng to his means. II he receives 81. 900 a
year rent or occupies it himself he will be
compelled to contribute definite proportion OF
| II; II only $3.50, the same proportion.
4 NOR are there any practical difficulties in
| THIS system. Washington is at this moment
| very generally improved by buildings suitable
to the location of the land Where there are
| vacant lots, and their value is not one-thou-
| sandth OF the improved lots, the assessors
would have simply to determine what xoa,d be
| their rental value il improved by houses SINH
| lar to those in the vicinity, and this rent value
OF the vacant land would fix its assessment"
The draft Of bill following out the views in
the letter was also submitted by Mr.. Warner.
MR. PHILLIPS EXAMINED.
Mr.. Samuel L. Phillips was the author
of the letter and draft of bill providing Tor a
| new method of assessment, taking the rental
received from property as a criterion. sub
mitted by Mr.. Warner. and today the
committee, :taking the letter az "a
basis, examined Mr. Phillips on
4
and commented upon the various phases OF his
plan. He remarked that in certain sections
speculation had placed fictitious value upon
property and that many of the inequalities
in the assessment resulted from this. II
showing why he considered the present system
adverse to the poor man and favorable TO tho
rich he suggested that the assessors could
J easily assess the full value Of a house wortf
| about $4,000, whereas 1t would be almost i'm
possible for them to place a correct value
on Houses worth in the neighborhood o.
, 100000. In speaking of the assessment &C
! cording to his plan OF property occupied by
owners he held that as one-half of the house
of the city were occupied by tenants an east
standard was made by which 10 Judge tn,
| rental value OF property occupied by owners
II would be easier to fix the rent OF crop
: erty than the value. He thought that th,
: assessment on the rent should never excee.
IA per cent, as any higher rate would driv,
} capital away from the city. The presen
assessment he thought would greatly increes,
| the revenue Of the District, but would no
wipe out any Of the inequalities Mr. Johnsor
. | tired to get Mr. Philips TO give his opinion o
| the single tax idea but 1lr. Phillips said tina
he had not considered the question ard that i
! was too broad foc him to give definite an
D swer. In answer to Mr.. Warmers question
the witness testified that in his belief values OF
+ street were greatly inflated, and that in man,
. other sections of the city from one cause o.
, another artificial values had been established
' file quoted, as an example. the prices at which
q 14th street property was held some five year
. ago.