Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-31
Washington's Large Assessment.

other cities In regard to the assessed
valuation Of realty. for purposes Of taxa
ton. should always be coupled with the
understanding that the large industrial
esta Adjustments which elsewhere contrib
ute most heavily to the citys wealth and
taxable property are here In large meas
ure nonresident save in the form of the
government departments and mechanical
establishments. These local industries.
| however. are not included in the taxable
properties. for the governments holdings
are exempt from assessment. Hence.
when Washington is compared. in this
respect, with such busy industrial CEN
tiers as Buffalo and Cleveland. the local
total of assessed valuation, representing
an almost exclusively non-industrial COM
munity. stands against the totals Of cities
where are scores, even hundreds, of mills
and shops and factories. producing enor-
nous values and giving employment to
great numbers. Even SO, the taxed half
of Washington is assessed at almost as
high total as Buffalo and at higher
total than Cleveland. Here are the fig
ures:
Buffalo ..-.............. 816914 261 $50 80
w washington SUS So0 <SJ FOL $3.50
Cleveland's assessment. which includes
personal property, is at 60 per cent of the
real value. and Buffalo's assessment at
100 per cent. Bringing to the 100 per cent
basis both Cleveland and Washington. in
order to institute the comparison sug-
gested by the Scott bill. the table would
stand:
Present Assessment
at 1907,
Washington ............... 81 $3.50 1921
Cleveland ................ &c $50 ~ go 6Se
Buffalo NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. 100 26l, 49, 60
1t is absurd to imagine that the taxed
half OF Washington is under-assessed
when it's real property is rated as worth
nearly 100000 moro than that of the
whole of Cleveland. with its great in
dustrial establishments and its popula-
ton 135, 600 larger than that Of the Dis
trict.
Is it to be believed that the taxed half
of non-industrial Washington is under
assessed, when 1t is shown to be worth,
in terms of taxation assessment, on the
same basis of 100 per cent, sos. 100000
more than all of Buffalo, with a popula-
ton nearly 5000 greater. and with it's
grain elevators, its mills its steel plant,
it's lake commerce, its manifold manu-
features and its retail business estab-
lishments?
Yesterdays Star contained an analysis
of the census bulletin figures with refer
ence to population and assessment, in
terms Of the ten cities including Wash
ington. ranging from eleventh place to
twentieth in population rank. Washing
ton stood at the head in point of both
the actual assessment on the $40 basis
and the proposed basis of 100 per cent
1t doomed In this summary far beyond
such Industrial centers as Cincinnati
Detroit and Milwaukee, all larger than
it in population. Yet this assessment
it Is always to be recalled. stands for
only one-half of the physical property
and the land of the District. 1t covers
both urban and suburban realty, at the
same rate of assessment, although in
most other cities the suburban properties
are rated as agricultural lands and as
sessed at lower rates than city properties.
The cry of an under-assessed Wash
ington persists from Congress to Congress
despite the repeated demonstrations in
terms Of federal statistics, which show
| that the taxed half of this District bears
even a heavier burden of assessment than
is imposed upon any of the other cities
OF approximately its size, in which all
the realty values are subject to taxation
1t is now proposed in the Scott bill. to
raise the assessment of real property
here in order to afford basis for the
more economical purchasing of public
building sites by the government, and at
the same time to lower the tax rate in
order to maintain the same proportion
of taxation. This would mean to raise
the assessment of Washington to even
greater heights above the other cities,
which the taxed half Of the District now
exceeds in striking degree