The times., 1901-04-22
THE DELINQUENT TAX Sale
How the District Deals With As
sessments in Arrears.
4 Penalty Imposed Upon All Unpaid
Levies on July Each Year-Hard-
ship Resulting to Poor Property
Oyyners-Present system Criticized

! LeNtes ON July i Each near-Hhra-
! ship Resulting to Poor Property
Oyners-Present system Criticized
The aggregate value of taxable real
| estate and personal property in the Dis
/ trict of Columbia is S19l. .oO00GG. The as
| sessments are made on the basis of $3.50
/ for city and suburban lots and of 81 on
agricultural land. Including interest and
! penalties on delinquent taxes, the income
/ of the District from this source is s3250,-
/ 0O0 and from licenses and other sources
| it is about S4,SO0.O0O.
Each year on July l there remains, un-
| paid a considerable amount of taxes on
real and personal property, as well as spe-
/ cial assessments for watermains, side
| walks, and curbs These unpaid taxes
/ thereby become delinquent and penalty
/ of 1 per cent month is imposed. The
law prescribes that the delinquent taxes
| of July ! in any given year shall be
sold at public auction. after being adver-
! tised. in the following month of April
beginning with the first Monday of the
month.
Last year on July l, there were 10,473
! items of tax unpaid. These were listed
and advertised, in pamphlet form, by the
I Collector of Taxes last month A special
/ effort was made in the Assessors Office
| last year to collect the unpaid taxes. TO
this end bills were sent out TO the de-
! linquents with the result that before the
sale this month about 1900 Of them paid
up in full with interest. During the sale
about 400 more delinquents appeared and
bid in their own property. This left about
| $500 items of taxes to be disposed of at
/ the tax sale which closed last Thursday.
| The District bid in 1000 of these. and the
( lfay ind f,af @ 10
The tax items that are sold annually
are made up as follows:
The original unpaid tax, the penalty of
/ per cent month, and the cost of ad-
Vertising-about 81 on each item.
The original delinquent tax may be the
regular levy, or a special assessment for
Waterman or sidewalk. In case Of the
| regular levy the interest is l2 per cent
year On special assessments, which may
be divided into four installments, the in
terest is from to 10 per cent a year, ac-
cording to the instaIlment.
! The law prescribes that the person bid
! ding in the tax item shall pay it to the
District at once. and the custom is for
the Collector to require a regular pur-
chaser. one who attends the sales each
year. to deposit sum equal to an esti-
mated amount of taxes to be bought in
| newcomes al the sales the amount be-
| comes a lien upon the property, and the
| holder of the certificate issued by the
| Collector to the purchaser is allowed
| 10 per cent interest year on the amount
paid. If the District bids in the item, the
original owner may still redeem it by
| paying Il per cent interest on the full
| amount.
In case of purchase by private individ-
ual, if the tax is not paid within two
years the Commissioners are authorized
by law to issue a tax deed against the
property to the purchaser. The business
| then passes beyond the control of the
District officials and settlement is a mat
| ter between the holder of the tax deed
| and the owner of the property.
The tax deed is a cloud upon the title
| and must be settled before sale of the
| property If settled in court, the holder
| of the tax deed viii be forced to take
his original purchase money and legal in
terest thereon for the time expired since
the tax sale. Most people, however, pre-
fer to make settlement out of court, and
1t is at this point, it is said, that the buy
ers of delinquent taxes make their profit,
charging bonus for settlement over and
/ above tax and interest. In their anxiety
to clear the title of their property, some
persons have paid hundreds of dollars
! for the cancellation of a tax certificate
or tax deed, which cost the purchaser in
the beginning only small sum.
| There is one interesting phase of the
subject, which made manifest at the
| recent tax sale, when there was greater
| competition than ever before Not only
was there much bidding between con-
! tending purchasers, but some of the items
were bid very high, from 50 to $4,000 above
/ the original items of tax and expenses.
This surplus is not paid to the District
until the purchaser taxes out a tax deed
| at the end OF two years It does not be-
| long to the District, however, but is pass
ed over to the owner of the property
in case, therefore, the purchaser bid
| an item of A up to Sl.0c0 and seeks to
| protect himself at the end of two years
| by taking out tax deed, the owner of
the property will receive this surplus, un-
less the matter is taken into court. 1t is
| expected, therefore, that unless the LOCO
or more items of tax which brought sur
plus at the sale are settled within TWO
| years. the certificates Will become void
by default, or settlement will be effected
through the courts.
There has been much discussion of the
subject of delinquent taxes and the in
terest charges upon them during recent
years. The Board of Trade the Business
Mems Association, and several of the
citizens associations have placed them
! selves on record against the present SyS-
tenn The Assessor, in his last report,
recommended a reduction Of interest
charges which the Commissioners ap-
proved and sent to Congress
| Those opposing the present system
argue that the arbitrary imposition of Il
| per cent interest on delinquent tax bills
| on July each year is an intolerable hard
/ ship upon the people of the District. 1t
is maintained that this burden falls, not
| on the rich, who pay their taxes prompt
W. but upon those whose hnan-
ciaI burdens weigh heavily. The hardship
of L per cent penalty is greatly agSra-
waited when the struggling property own
! er falls into the hands of the annual tax
sale speculator. and the consequent
clouding of his title by tax certificate or
tax deed.
In speaking of this matter in his last
! annual report. the Assessor expressed
himself as follows:
In the course of year a great many
cases are presented TO this office for the
= remission of penalties and interest. where
the equities are so strong as to warrant
relief Some of these cases are occasiGned
by the lack of education on the part of
poor ignorant persons. and are really
pitiable, but from the lack Of authority
at law to adjust them have to be acted
= upon adversely.
Il would suggest that some provision
| of law be enacted vesting the Commits
I ! sioners with power to remit penalties and
z | interest and even cancel taxes where the
equities are strong enough 10 warrant 1t,
= and thus save the property owner the eN-
pense of court proceeding.
. AN UNKNOWN NEGRO INJURED
3; | Eound Reside the Railroad Tracks