Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-08-20
The Taxation and Assessment Report

The Taxation and Assessment Report
The report of the subcommittee of the
House on District taxation and assess
ment, submitted today after many months
of investigation and elaboration, is
document of the utmost Importance and
interest to every resident of Washington,
whether taxpayer or otherwise 1t is so
: comprehensive in its recommendations.
so sweeping in its proposition of changes,
that Ii cannot be briefly judged, but must
be taken consecutively. Fortunately, there
is no possibility of action at the present
session along the lines of the subcommit
tees recommendations, that there will
be time to review and discuss them and
to advance statistics to refute such of
those as are not warranted by conditions.
The most vitality important of the
recommendations of the subcommittee is
that which proposes as an administrative
change the establishment of full-value
assessments. coupled with legislative
change embracing the repeal of the fixed
tax rate of II. per cent, leaving the rate
TO be hxcd annually by the requirements
of the budget Against those two sug-
gestions virtually the entire community
will be compelled to protest emphatically,
as inimcal to the local welfare. as unfair
10 washington, DIS d menace 10 tHe pIlH-
ciple of equal federal participation in the
cost of the capitals upkeep.
Most of the other recommends tons of
the subcommittee. legislative as well as
administrative. commend themselves to
the approval of the citizens of the Dis
trict. There is no substantial objection,
as far as the matter can be viewed at
present. to the exercise by the assessor
pf for add
relative to values under OATH the keeping
of a record of important leases to aid in
determining values, the publication of
land-value maps and assessment sheets,
the establishment of a systematic method
of equalzing land values. the establish
ment Of tables of building factors and
deterioration for determining the value of
: improvements, the prosecution of the
legal requirement of reforming the lot
numbers in squares, or, in the admins
tratiye range. the consolidation of lots
that portions of single buildings. Nor
will there be much opposition TO the
majority of the subcommittee legsla-
tive recommendations. such as the subst-
tuition of annual in pace of triennial
assessments. the substitution of twelve
held assessors for the three assistants
nov on field work, the abolition of the
compulsory personal view" of each piece
of property, the creation of a board of
appeals from which the field assessors
are excluded: the restoration of the power
OF the commissioners to remove the
assessor or assistant assessors from office
Tor cause, the divorce of excise matters
from the assessors Office. or the estab-
hshment of assessment roll and the
transfer of the duty of making bills from
the assessors Office TO the office of the
tax collector.
Thus in the main the things urged by
the subcommittee are in the line of praise
worthy reform. the securing of which
will undoubtedly make more equitable,
more satisfactory and more businesslike
the assessment and the collection of taxes
in the District. But these recommended
tons are subordinate to those against
which the District must protest with
energy and which 1t must resist with de-
termination, the assessment of property
for taxation purposes at full value and
the repeal of the fixed rate of H. per
cent, leaving the rate 20 be fixed annually
by the requirements of the budget
The Star will proceed later 10 point
out the iniquity of a system of taxa
lion such as that which is thus out
lined by the subcommittee major
recommendations 1t has heretofore
shown BY unanswerabIe statistics
gathered by the United States census
office. that Washington is already highly
assessed and highly taxed IL is OBJ
vious TO any one who has studied the
question locally that there is no occa-
sion to raise more District tax money
by such extraordinary means as those
proposed, and that there is grave dan
ger in any disturbance of the tax rate
and the substitution of a sliding scale
governed by the Requirements of the
budget"
II the United States is TO continue to
contribute equitably to the support Of
the capital municipality. there is no
occasion for any extraordinary in
crease In the District tax revenue On thu
contrary, IL the United States 10 to
cease to pay its rightfui share of the
municipal expenses here at the seat Of
government. IL will be necessary for
the District TO raise more money from
taxation. unless il is to sink back into
the incompetence of government and
the shabbiness of physical condition
which characterized IL before the fed
eral government assumed it's true re-
sponsibility. To those who have fol-
lowed the proceedings in Congress
during the past few years with refer
ence to the District 1t is obviously the
purpose of certain Legislators to re-
woke the present arrangement whereby
the United States undertakes to pay
half the cost OF capital maintenance
Ii is impossible 10 read the present re-
port of the subcommittee of the House
District committee without concluding
that here is what is intended as the
beginning Of the process of repeating
the organic act.