Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-29
That IA Millions Valuation.

pears in three roles: First. as a de-
fender of himself as the man solely
responsible for the S744ooo.ooo valua-
ton of Washington realty in 1912. as
it appeared in the so-called George
taxation report: second, as an as
sailant of the half-and-half plan as
injurious to the city. from the view
point of radical singletaNer. and as
the cause of all the Districts woes
from high cost OF living. and high
rents to lack of factories. the dis
creditablc environment of Pennsyl-
vania avenue and undesirable CELL
bacv in Washington: and. third. as
an assailant in 1918 OF the assessor
and Washington assessment meth
DDS and practices. In the public mind
Mr.. Browne should not be confused
in these three roles. Each OF the issues
should be worked out separately and
distinctly.
The first issue is the old one of 1912
between Mr.. Browne and Washing
ION dS 1GDl NStHttu ny thN i'Cthl u ~
Trade and The Star. Mr.. Browne.
as The Star believed. had. in testl-
fying to deductions. reached erro-
neous conclusions from false prem
Uses. and these conclusions. on &C
count of their adoption by a House
committee. threatened great injury
and injustice to the local community.
In order that this issue may be clear
~ understood there is here reprinted
a Star editorial OF March IS, 1914,
which accompanied statement from
Mr. Browne on this subject which
The Star printed:
The George taxation report of 1912 al
leses that real property in the District
of Columbia is assessed Si14,0o0.0o0 be-
low its true value: the true value being
s744 100000. while the assessment is only
s330.00O, 900"
This statement is based solely upon the
testimony and argument before the sub
committee of Witness II. ]. Browne Mr.
Brownies evidence is not direct expert
appraisement of the value of Washington
realty, but is the deduction of an ex-
journalist from what persons questioned
by him have said concerning local values
and from what he has read and studied
in the newspap ers, or official reports, or
record books of business men of Wash
ington on that subject. Generalizing
from the statements. sworn and unsworn,
OF individuals in respect TO particular
cases in selected spots in the different
sections of the city, Mr.. Browne developed
an infallible formula for ascertaining
true values in all parts of Washington
For the large suburban areas he multi
piled the actual assessment in every
case by five; for the business and fine
tiplied the actual assessment in every
case by three and one-third for middle
class house sites he multiplied in every
case by two. For small home sites he
multiplied in every case by one and two
thirds.
What could be simpler? What more
foolish?
This valuation of Washington realty
was in its totals so grossly a variance
with the valuations of other far larger
and richer American cities. and was so
obviously unsound in generalizing con-
corning whole sections from conditions
.hought TO exist in particular spots.
that ii was promptly and vigorously
challenged for Washington in 1912 by
the practically unanimous action of the
Board of Trade. and by facts and fig
ures furnished by the assessors office.
The Johnson-Prouty report on the
mutilated George bill gave full faith
to this inaccurate and misleading state
ment of the George report, and used it
The Star repeated in 1914 Washington's
1912 challenge of the accuracy of this
allegation. and urged that thorough in
vestigation of it would be one of the
useful functions of impartial tax
commission for Washington. Elsewhere
In today's Star. Witness Browne in re-
Spouse to the latest questioning of the
correctness of his figures. explains in
terestingly how thoroughly he equipped
himself by investigat conversation
reading and long study to guess at
realty values in Washington. In con-
nection with Mr.. Brownies statement,
The Star prints extracts from the 1912
public comments of the assessor upon
Mr.. Brownies accusation of S414, 000,-
900 underassessment in Washington
The assessors facts and figures demon
strate the absurdity of the attempt TO
fix an arbitrary formula of relation OF
assessment to true value applica BILE to
whole section OF to all of any one
class of real property.
The assessor had no opportunity in
1912 to give TO the George committee
the benefit of his pertinent facts and
figures concerning the accuracy of this
valuation. but an impartial commission
Of 1914, If one is appointed. should dis
sect and compare Mr.. Brownies and the
assessors figures. maps and statistical
tables and decide between them.
Mr.. Brownies total assessment and
tax levy, compared with that of other
cities, is startlingly excessive. Wash
ington would raise in taxes from it's
10000 The taxed fraction Of re
sourceless Washington would thus
raise from it's realty alone more than
was raised on realty and personality
combined in 1912 by the great. rich and
prosperous industrial cities Of Cleve-
land total levy, S10.019,70s) Balti-
more CsS.s43.o05J. Detroit ($s,s77, $50,
Buffalo (s9.i2s.73D, san Francisco
s10.463.T0D. Milwaukee ($6.S59II3),
Cincinnati ts7.5S3,515). Los Angeles
(Ss,18770S), Newark CS5,S46,6O2) and
New Orleans ts51s2.f2D, all larger
cities with far more resources than
Washington. The taxed fraction of the
capital would, under the n. J. Browne val
uation, pay more taxes on its realty alone
than the realty and personality levies OF
Minneapolis (s3.e92.24D and Jersey
City tS3.570,95i) combined: a little less
than Seattle Cs4.307.23J). Kansas city
S4,115.595) and Indianapolis fS2.4G6-
$3.50 combined: about three times AS
much as the total tax of Indianapolis
or Providence, or Rochester or Denver
or Louisville: over four times as much
as the total levy of st. Paul and nearly
six times much as the total levy
of Atlanta.
The local taxpayers of Washington
actually raised in 1912 a total levy of
$5.398.3S4. and to do SO endured the
burden of n per capita tax levy OF
$I5.15, a greater tax burden than that
imposed upon 147 out of the 1874 Ameri-
can cities. II. J. Browne proposed off
hand to more than double that per
capita tax levy by the tax on realty
alone and to make Washington's per
capita tax levy much greater than that
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