Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-04-14
FIGURES ARE ANNOUNCED
Amount Sold Less Than 4 Per Cent
of Total Levy.
MIR. RUDOLPH IS PLEASED
Commissioner Regards Cleanup as
Refutation of Attacks on Dis
trict Departments.

Commissioner Rudolph is plainly de-
lighted at the splendid showing made by
the Office of the collector of taxes in the
matter Of real estate tax collections. Tor
II was reported to him this morning that
tho District of Columbia has broken all
records in the matter of collecting on
levies. The figures that c. c. Rogers,
collector of taxes. laid before the Com
missioner show that there is no founda-
ton for the remark made by a member
of citizens association in recent
speech THAT real estate buzZards' VINO
were described as ''roosting in the as
SCISSORS office" are making S2OO,OOO
year by buying property at tax sales.
Because there is not 100000 worth or
real estate sold for taxes.
The amount sold for taxes this year is
found today to be exactly 500, 80. 10. 1t
is less than per cent of the amount of
the real estate levy. The assessors taxed
the real estate of the District s4, las. S61 81.
That much money the owners Of this kind
of property owed to the District. When
the time came to pay up or be sold out,
all but a mere handful, comparatively
speaking, had been paid in. The handful
was the hundred thousand and few odd
dollars disposed of in the sale, and which
has been reported at the office OF the
recorder of deeds
Declared to BE record.
Commissioner Rudolph said today that
he was certain that this remarkable
cleanup Of real estate taxes was rec
ord. not only for this city, but for the
United States. He is especially pleased
just at this time because of the recent
attack made on the tax collecting and
property assessing departments of the
District government. wherein ii was IN
f-r 70
selling out property owners and too little
attention paid to going after the taxes
Collector Rogers explains 1t by saying
that the strenuous efforts made by his or
ficials to bring i'm the personal taxes mas
had a tonic effect upon the owners OF real
estate. His idea is that slow payers nave
taken notice that the tax collectors are
really out for the money and have sent In
their checks.
.'Of course he said today, I'VE don't
send a collector after a real estate tax
payer We have hold on him through
this tax sale. But we have no such mold
on personal taxes, and have to rustic
around to get them. But the boys were
so active this year that people began to
sit up and take notice, and consequently
the District of Columbia this year gets
practically every cent that is due on real
estate
Activity Will Continue.
ADQ the DOyS Will bt just % oNti'S
next year?' he was asked.
You bet.' was the emphatic answer
On January 1 of this year there were
$50 pieces of property in the District
of Columbia on which taxes had not been
paid.
This list represented all sorts and condi-
tions of property There were old home
fteads old family mansions left to WIDOWS
and daughters whose business experience
.I1x-t mud 0<1Fr1 a
times into the hands of sloppy business
agents who let tax payments slide OF
their backs with great facility. There
were neat little bits OF property owned by
people who had forgotten all about them
and who had moved away. in some cases
into the farthest portions of the country.
Inaccessible by mail and telegraph. never
theless the officials at the District build
ing hammered and hammered at these
lost property owners until many of them
were found, and mighty happy to be
found. because a large percentage of
them tunbed over themselves in order to
save their forgotten property by small
tax payment
Notices Were Sent Out.
Although not required by law, AS
SCISSOR William p. Richards sent out
notices in advance of the sale. calling
attention to the fact that the time was
short and it was getting to be case
OF pay up or. have tax sale deed
lcloudinG the title. With all these
agencies at work to inform District
property owners that a tax sale was
about to begin, the auctioneer's ham
mer fell on only 4,27S parcels, the other
200 having been cleared up. The as
SCISSORS books open before the
sale, as they are at all times, and every
property owner, no matter how small,
was afforded every opportunity to ex-
anime everything in regard to his prop
ertys records.
For two years now the District officials
in the Office of the tax collector will act
as sort of clearing house for the
property holders whose real estate was
sold in the recent tax sale, because the
tax sale cloud can be lifted from the
title by a payment of back taxes and
extra charges. Last year so per cent of
the property sold for taxes was redeem
that before the end of the taX-sale year
next March fully 30 per cent more will
have been redeemed.
But all this talk about tax sales. "buZ-
yards" sharks" and other noiSome fig
lures OF speech that have been applied
to the buyers of property at tax sales
might be avoided, say the men in charge
of this tax work, il every property own
ier would pay taxes promptly in the
month of May. Then there would be
little chance of getting I'm arrears. there
would be no 1 per cent a month pen
atty, and the tax collector and the as
SCISSOR would be as happy as a marriage
bell.
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