The Washington herald., 1915-12-12

from u |n0R ana 00lk ooo01uy tor tue
hensnt Of Tie country at Args
bankrupted By imposit:on Of 10 for
community ben11it which exacts oio0 -
per cent Of vA1ns an Of which h COM
munity creafsdf WIN not the owner
stiIl receive an enormous percentage on
the actual invsstnsut? wni not It's net
rental return SIN Be high and continue
20 increase with the groWth Of the Ma
ttonal Capital and the general Federal
expenditures?
ehali propose on this particular class
Of landed estate-a business property
growing rapidly In value with the growfh
Of the community-a tax rate Of e 50 per
hundred on its full true value based on
the capitalization Of its gross annual
rent In place Of The $50 rate based on
ttwo-thirds Of a low estimate Of the SELL
ing value. The increase In taxation
would be nearly no per cent. yet the
holder would still possess In the property
great unearned fortune. and the an
pual unearned increment win more than
pay thf taxes
What is left Of the constant plaint of
the Star that ...confscation'. and the ut
ter destruction OF land values would
result from the District paying its own
bills?
A Fortune In . ConAscated Sidewalk
One other example. and attention is
directed to Its extraordinary character.
The southwest corner Of Ninth Street
and Louisiana Avenue. part Of lot 9,
square ~. comprising some s,0a3 feet.
belonging to the James L. Barbour es-
tate. is leased to p. K Chaconas and
others for $1,000 a year. These rental
figures have been disputed but not dis
proved. The improvements are an an
cient brick building adding nothing to
the value Of the property, but assessed
at $4,000. So the $1,000 constitutes prac-
ticaliy a clear ground rent. the highest
Tor the same space of ground In the Dis
trict Of Columbia, nearly $50 per square
FOOT, per annum. Yet the land was as
sessed in 1872 at only so foot and I'm
1915 at SS. total increase Of from $10o :
69 to $lo,S5s. The area shrinks in the
assessment book from 5.y3 in 1872 to COS
In lsl5. and the total assessment is given
as $3o.s5.. The full valuation of this
property IL 3l96.cs7 on which its $1,000
rent indicates gross return OF 81 per
cent and net return of as per cent.
With the marked increment in value of
all this class Of property per cent
basis OF rent capitalization would be ex-
tremely conservative. Indicating a true
value Of $4,000 on which a $50 tax rate
would produce annually s. 50o in place Of
as at present SI.ssc. an increase of over
80 per cent Would this be "confisca-
tion?" Would a net rental return far in
excess Of what the same property
brought the same family estate thirty
years ago show confiscation? Again the
tax would be less than the annual incre-
ment in value.
But consider this: The principal rental
value of this favored corner springs from
the police regulation which permits its
lessees to use for stands several thou
sand square feet of the sidewalk belong
ing to the United States government, q
privilege worth $4,000 a year.
What will happen when the United
States government exercises its un-
doubted right and collects its own rent
for the use Of its own property? Mr..
Chaconas and the other lessees would as
soon pay the $4,000 a year to tie gov
crnment as to the Barbour estate. They
would get back some benefit from its
public expenditure. But the Barbour
estate would have its rentals knocked
from 81. go to 5000. Bad for the un-
,, earned privileges of the Barbour estate:
excellent for everybody else. A brief
visit to this corner would be extremely
instructive.
The SOS feet Of the Barbour-C Chaconas
corner brings in more rent than the 15.-
coo feet Of the west wing Of Center Mar
ket. The Center Market Company has a
valuable leasehold from the Federal gov
ernment. Despite the fact that its stall
rentals are fixed at an arbitrarily low
rate. 1t Is heavily taxed on its improve
ments and leasehold. But there are in
the vicinity Of Louisiana Avenue privi-
/ leges extended to merchants through the
police regulations referred to for which
the landlords exact from their tenants
over 100000 a year in excess rents. all
of which in Justice belongs to the United
States and should be collected by the
United States. Moreover all users of
vault spaces under public sidewalks
should pay, not taxes on such use. but
rentals.
The widows Mite.
Let me cite another property for
comparison. situated on Emerson street
northeast. between Thirteenth and
Fourteenth streets. 1t is one of a long
row of similar small houses. Of which
there are thousands in Washington.
and is the property Of poor and de-
serving widow who works arduously
for her daily bread. It cost some
years ago $4,000. but like air of that
class of cheaply built houses is de-
teriorating rapidly in value. Its rental
has in consequence shrunk from
s2o50 a month to $3.50. The SO
cents is charged for water rent 1t
takes two months rental to pay taxes.
insurance. repairs and brokerage. so
the owner receives but ten months
! rental a year while il is rented-$1s0
and runs constant risk Of an idle
house. Its physical deterioration. in
| escapable and beyond repair, is not
] less than $50 a year: SO her true net
return is only $1Oo. exactly 4 per
| cent on the investment. She Is as
sessed on 1.0.4 feet of ground at
| Indicating a full value off,. 3S4.0O
on the improvements. ......-. 100000
/ indicating q full value Of. 10000
| a total full value of. 1.SS4.oO
on which her taxes are ... $1s.S4
and her water rent presumably 500
a total tax Of ............ sa3S4
Figures on over 200 small houses in
the District show a smaller return
than this property.
Note that the improvements on this