Evening star., 1901-09-07
DISTRICT FINANCES
Il
Annual Report Made by the Collect
or q Taxes. &
RECEIPTS AGGREGATE &,M,075.A
Recommendations Made for Sup
plying Needs of Office.
TOTAL OF TAX LES
TOTAL OF TAX SALES

Mr. E. G. Davis, the collector of taxes for
the District of Columbia, has submitted his
annual report to the District Commission
ers, containing a statement Of the business
OF the office during the year ending June 80
last with recommendations as are deemed
necessary for the better and more efficient
transaction Of the business Of the office.
The summary of collections reported by
the collector is as follows:
General fund-Realty tax, So 100 O37. .9S;
personal tax, SITS, ,155. 16; penalties and in
terest, ST., ,377.1O; miscellaneous, S6O2 CSC. 5S;
water fund, S369, 1856. .9s; assessment and per-
NIT work, SOC, ,934.30; improvements and re-
pairs, S11 ,O22s6; deposits to credit of the
United States, $17,072. 80; sundry deposits.
S551 ,572. u; permit work (whole cost, $147,-
OS4. 26 Total, s., ,154 ,075.34.
THE lack Of sufficient force to properly
transact the business and give to taxpay-
ers that prompt and satisfactory service
which they ought to have has long been
apparent to every one who is brought into
business relations with the Office says
Mr.. Davis. Our present inadequate force
and the rapidly increasing business Of the
Office would suggest large addition to
the number of clerks. but 1 have only
asked for -su IN increase as has been found
by experience to be absolutely necessary,
namely, an assistant cashier and two cou-
pom clerks 1t has been clearly demon
strated that one cashier can no longer
handle the large volume of business that
passes through this Office hence an assist
ant Is a necessity; and one coupon clerk
for each cashier, to examine compare and
detach coupons and stamp bills before pass
ing to the cashier is also necessary.
Basis of Recommendations.
'Our recommendations to supply the
needs Of the Office are based con an inti-
mate knowledge, gained by experience, of
t. fov kIa
the failure Of Congress to supply the neces-
sary assistance to enable this office to meet
its growing demands has been the cause Of
embarrassment during the past four years.
We have repeatedly asked for an assistant
cashier. and our recommendation now be-
comes more urgent for the reason that we
have reached that point when one cashier
can no longer perform the work satisfac-
torily. The same can be said of our request
for additional clerks; but one was provided
when three were asked for. an increase
then needed to keep pace with the addi-
tional duties devolving on the Office. and
what was then a need is now a necessity.
System OF Collections.
The system of collecting taxes inaugural
ed last May, after the defects developed in
the beginning were -remedied, worked very
satisfactorily. It was found impracticable
for this Office to deliver bills, as originally
intended, owing to the delay caused oy
having to return such large number OF
bills to the assessor for alteration. In the
meantime taxpayers awaiting the return
of changed bills made 1t difficult for others
in line to approach the cashiers desk
which caused dissatisfaction and seriously
interfered with the dispatch Of business.
Happily this was OF short duration, the
remedy being found by transferring the de-
livery of bills to the assessors office. This
simplified matters by removing the cause
of delay and confusion and permitted the
business to proceed in an orderly manner.
and the system worked smoothly and was
the subject of conamendation by taxpay-
ers generally. 1t has, however, materially
increased the work Of this and the asses
sor's Office, but the improved service, we
think, more than compensates for the in
creased labor. In order to continue the
improved system 1t is necessary to have
the addition to our force which we have
recommended.
Taxes I'm One Installment
The wisdom Of Congress In enacting leg
islation authorizing the collection OF 1901
tax in one installment was fully justified
by the result. There was no complaint OR
apparent embarrassment on the part OF
taxpayers in making payments and many
expressed themselves as well pleased with
the change, and hoped 1t would be made
permanent, and instead of diminishing re-
ceipts, as was predicted by few who op-
posed the single payment, our receipts
were larger in May, 1901 lsingle paymen0,
than in November and May, 1900 double
paymenD. l submit statement Of levy and
collections for this and previous year OF
realty and personal tax.
Levy, 1900
Realty tax s. 620 $685. Collections 81 295, 764 "A
Personal tax 245 SASS Collections. 169, 42S.O .O6
81 s65, $3.50 81, 465, 1872. so
Levy, 1901
Realty tax 676 1S1 II Collections So 325, 900 OF
Personal tax. 244. .30S. 10 Collections. 16S, 26
$500 4S9S7 81, 493, ,945.27
Unpaid Assessments.
In exclamation of the large balance OF