The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1914-04-29
TAXATION IN DISTRICT.
REPRESENTATIVES, Payne Attacks
Amendments to George Bill.


Ffum the Congressional Record. Apsil ~
Mr.. Payne. Mr. Chairman, the subject
Of assessment and taxation Is very
difficult one, and has not been Iuiiy
solved In any part OF the United States,
and will not be here. under the terms of
this bill. There would not seem to be
any reason why the real estate In the
city of Washington or the District OF Co
lumbia should not be assessed at uni
form value, at the fun value, IL you
please. The gentleman from Iowa (Mr.
Prouty) has brought In a chart here.
containing the names OF number OF
cities In the State of New York, where
he says they report to him the assess
ment In at full value. and yet outside of
the city of Greater New York l do not
believe the assessment of any one Of
them is anywhere near the full value. It
il against the nature OF things that II
should be so.
In the state of New York we levy now.
growing out CT our canal debt, a State
tax. and in order to apportion the State
tax fairly we have an equalization board,
which takes into consideration the as
sessed value of every county In the
State. They inquire into the matter;
they go around sometimes and visit the
various counties, and have a session with
the board OF supervisors and assessors,
TO find out the percentage OF value that
the assessment has really been fixed at.
They get at IL as nearly as they can,
but even in getting ut IL as nearly as
they can the result is very far from the
true state OF affairs. Then they make an
equalization for the State OF the amount
of the assessed value for each county.
in order to get at the proper amount OF
the State tax for each county. Well.
0 I'D a
in the valuation put upon the property
in the different counties; and yet they
do not get anywhere within a long way
OF the truth of IL. and they cannot iget
anywhere near the truth of il.
Never at Full Rate.
Then we have what is called the county
tax in each county, and that is levied
upon the property OF the various towns.
The assessment is made by individual
towns. Our laws require that the real
estate shall be assessed at its full value,
and yet il never is. ! know Of but one
instance in the whole state of New York
where the assessment is the full value.
and that IL for local reasons The su-
pervisors of the county meet and they
equalize the assessment and the valua-
ton between the various towns.
II there is a city in the county having
smaller number of supervisors than
the number from the country towns. the
equalization is against the city and in
favor of the country towns. Years ago
served on the board Of supervisors. and
know something about IT, I was on the
equalization committee OF the board of
supervisors. IL is surprising how low is
the valuation of farms in the county. II
is all human nature. and IL all works
out Everybody is in favor Of paying as
little taxes as he can: there is no qucs-
tion about that. Human nature is the
same the world over. They put il on tn"
city. / remember once getting up and
saying that would go into court and
bust up the whole thing II they did not
cut down the eIualiZed value they h al
put on the city OF Auburn, where | live,
and ! succeeded in getting a very sub
stantiaI reduction. Some said IT was a
blum. hut II was not. meant to fight all
the way through. and they realized IL
Prouty's Chart Fails to Deceive.
Now. bringing in that chart here and
saying that the assessment OF those cities
in New York outside Of Greater New
York represents their full value will not
impose On any man in New York who
knows anything about the me- de II as
sessment there. Our low requires II. but
they do not do il. The assessors have to
Tldhf Il pretty sun dlllhtNlN VI lFtftlt ~
IT, There IS no deduction from the as
scssed value OF real estate on account Of
Indebtedness. and vet il Is not assessed
at the full value or anywhere near IL. |
am not surprised that the assessment in
the city of Washington is found to be
below the full value. and vet there is not
any such reason for it as there is in the
cities and towns of our State. because
hero the taxes are all paid in one taN.
Sfufa INV fftF hgF
to pay here. II il all included in one.
There is M equalization Of valuation.
do not see why We could not get at
pretty nearly fair distribution of the
taxes upon the real estate m the city Of
WASHINGTON. / do not believe in this IL
per cent business. and never did. be
Iicve that a budget should be made up
as intellisently as We used to make IL up
in our county board of supervisors. put
ting in the entire expenditure and then
getting at the entire assessment as II
v ould nuualiZe when We finally got down
to EQUALIZATION; get at the fun value OF
the assessment and divide the budget by
the amount Of the assessment. and get
a percentage figure and extend the tax
rates according to that. never Rave
seen any good reason why that was not
very fair method Of getting at it. and
I think il world be good method Of
getting at IL here. II the original George
bill had come in here. there were at least
two CoSd features in il. in my judgment.
But tho committee in their wisdOR. have
sought to search out the intangible per
sonal property Well. the intangible
property has been sought after for wears
more orless. and a good many men who
nave been seeking after 1t have given
M the chase to get At il for 'lNation
PURPOSES. IL is involved in a good deal
Of wrong, injustice. and inequality.
Taxing intangible Property.
Now. take this bill assessing intangible
rroperty at the same rate as Tangible
property. and Including moneys, credits.
shares of stocks. bonds, annuities, and
all other evidences OF Indebtedness. and
then exempting the shares Of stocks and
bonds of District corporations which pay
q tax now upon that same property. sup
pose a man owned some shares in the
PENNSYLVANIA Railroad Company. That
company paws taxes, of course, in the
District OF Columbia upon the property
that il has here. Why should not the
man owning shares in the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company have an exemption
under this bill the same as man owning
shares in street railroads? suppose a
man owns stocks and bonds issued by a
corporation in the State of New York.
The corporation there pays tax on the
full valuation of its property. 1t cannot
get rid of IT, Ii has already paid it.
When the corporation comes to fix its
dividends II takes that into consideration
as a part of its expense. Suppose man
holds bonds of the State of New York
or bonds Of the city of New York which