Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-09-08
TAX CABLE PROPERTY
The List to Be Augmented by the Addition
Of Pieces Heretofore Exempt.
Opinion of the Attorney of the Dis
trict to Be the Basis of the
AsscssOrs' Action.

When the board Of permanent assessors
makes Its final return of the assessment of
the county. and thereby concludes the new
assessment of the District Of Columbia, II
will present a recommendation to the CON-
missioners to include in the list of taxable
property a number Of pieces of property
that are at the present time exempt from
taxation by law and common consent.
Two years ago Assessor Trimble prepared
a statement showing the taxable property
In the District, together with a list Of the
property exempt from taxation by law.
The list Of property exempted from taxa
tion amounted to the immense sum in ag-
gregate value of s211, ,157, ,9SS. OF this
amount the United States was entitled to
exemption on $19S,O5S, 139. The District
owned property valued at $S.653, $40, upon
which it paid no taxes, and all other ex-
empt property in the District amounted to
s9,i4G.029. A recapitulation based on the
percentage of taxable property in the Dis
trict showed these remarkable figures. The
taxable property was placed at 1875 per
cent: the United States property went near
ly two percentage POINTS higher, and was
placed at 1870 Per cent; the District of Co.
lun.bia property was placed at 81 per cent,
and all other exempt property figured 2.a4
per cent Of the whole.
OF course the assessors have no idea of
compelling the general government to pay
taxes on its property, ror does the board
wish to in pose the burdens of taxation
upon the District. What 1t hopes to Go,
and what The board will recommend, Is that
there be taken off the list of exempt prop
erty certain parcels of ground, with their
improvements, which are now in no wise
public institutions, and more especially
those institutions which are operated by
corporations for gain. There are in the
city of Washington 137 churches, whose
total valuation is 81, ,2S2,6 The board has
never considered placing them on the tax
able list. but many of them have on the
property occupied by the church building
other structures that are not used for
church purposes. These. the board be-
lieves, should pay taxes. In Georgetown
there ere fourteen clutches, valued at
$2OI,221; ir the county thirty-two churches.
valued at S113,2S1. OR a grand total Of 1S3
churches in the District, valued at S4,6l3, =
1872.
The number Of charitable institutions in
the District is forty. and the value of the
ground and improvements occupied by
them is placed at $2,3I1 ,125.
More particularly there are twenty-nine
private educational institutions, whose to-
tai assessed value is s2,072, 1863. And these,
although they are run for private gain,
do not contribute one cent In taxes.
This matter has been kept a secret-that
is. the proposed action of the board of as
SCISSORS. 1t leaked out, however, today
when a written opinion was received from
the attorney for the District based upon
a trial question. 1t appears the board of
assessors in it's tour about the city discov-
cred that the ground and house in which
the teachers of the School of the Immacu-
late Conception lived, in the rear Of the
school building, were not included in the
property listed for taxation The question
was at once raised how many of such in
stances existed in the District. Before pro-
1ipey Vxtf1, hn f,x-n
for the District was appealed to for an
opinion upon the legality of exempting such
property from taxation. His opinion was
that the property in question, not being
used for school purposes, could not be con-
sidered exempt. This opinion opened the
way for the assessors, and it is understood
that the list of taxable property in the
District will be considerably augmented
this year by the addition of a number of
pieces Of property that have heretofore en-
joyed exemption from taxation.