The Washington times., 1919-09-26

/ fiscal year ending June 80. 1919.
The report showed that 1913 new
/ buildings were erected in Washing-
/ ton last year; that an increase % be.
/ ing noted IN the erection OF private
/ dwellings, and that property in GER
/ tain business sections Of the city Was
/ increasing IN value greatly. A new
\ plan for numbering city blocks wa
/ outlined.
The report showed that the totai
l assessments Ga land and improve
mentg ~ the District for the past
year was S4tA61O, ,0o1, an increase over
the preceding year Of s4,43flO52.
Personal Tax Lew.
The personal tax levy Of 1919 had
a grand total OF S2,675,151.04. The
real estate tax levy Tor the same year
was 90.21016O.3T. This made q grand
total OF $3.50. .311.41, which was an
Increase over the preceding year.
The biennial assessment Of real
estate for the years 1920 and 1921
has been compIeted and % now being
entered upon the ledgerB Of the as
SCISSORS office. In making these as
sesBments the board OF assessors
based It's decisions upon what it con-
sidered would be g fair value under
normal conditions.
During the year 1879 pieces Of
property were Transferred. compared
with 7.7S6 last year. Since April the
number OF transfers recorded has been
double the corresponding months Of
last year.
Mr.. Richards. in his report, states
that u 60 imperative his oRice have
additional help IN the field work he
states conditions are 80 changed ag 70
make &c almost impossible for the
present force Of field men, hve. 70 DO
the work alone.
EstImated Revsnuea.
In compliance with an order Of the
District Commissioners, q COMMITTEES.
comprising the auditor, assessor and
collector Of taxes, prepared and sub
mittod on August 24 g statgmeuE Of
the estimated revenues OF the District
! for the fiscal year ending June 90.
1920.
The committee estimated a collec-
tion in the District Of S1O,12s,450.
Mr.. Richards tells OF changing con
ditions and how the increase in cost
Of labor and buildings has curtailed
TO some extent the growth Of the city.
The report also says
'HThe new biennial assessment for
1919 and 1920 shows some increases
Z
section, particularly in the square
lying just west Of Seventeenth street,
and south Of Pennsylvania avenue
northwest, in the section adjacent to
Mcpherson Square: on the South side
Of + street, from Ninth TO Thirteenth;
and on the West side OF Seventh
street between Pennsylvania avenue
and Z street. Recent sales through
out the business section are general
in line with our new assessment
New ApaFtment Houses.
There wore only eight apartment
houses erected m the District during
the fiscal year compared win forty
one in 1917.
Mr.. Richards announces = change
in the numbering o. city squares.
He says in his report;
"On January @, 1919, there was re-
corded in the office OF the Surveyor
OF the District or Columbia, for aid
In taxation Of real estate, a set OF
maps embracing all the squares
within the city OF Washington, in
cludlng what was formerly George
town. These squares are numbered
from / to 1901, with a distinctive Tot
number for each house or individual
holding OF ground, and have been
Act No. 22l, approved March 3, 1899.
Most Of the work has covered a
period OF two years, as only q very
limited number OF squares had been
plated between the years 1899 and
1916 because OF lack Of funds. BY
reason Of additional clerical help
given 70 the office three years ago, the
work has been taken up and carried
to a finish.
Only City Squares AGeeted.
This work, as stated above, ap-
plies only to city squares. The syB-
tenn Of designating county property
was put into effect on November 1,
1905. and the results have been high
ly beneficial in simplifying the as
sesBment or property and in afford
ing q ready reference to the owner
ship OF all lots or parcels OF property
in the county. The preparation Of
the county maps was done under a
special appropriation and many OF
them were Autographed with very
great advantage to the carrying on
OF assessment work.
when the city was first laid out
into blocks and lots they were num-
bered, so that the deed merely re-
ferred to the lot number. As these
lots were TOO large TOT convenient
building purposes, they became divid-
ed, through deeds, into various lots or
parcels described BY metes and
bounds. This necessitated an ab-
breviated description to be carried on
the tax records. Thus, lot one be-
came divided into east twenty feet
front by full depth. the west thirty
feet front by full depth, and the mid
die front by full depth. These abbFe-
viatiOns were often faulty in descrip-
tion and have resulted in the CaFp
collation. Of many sales. New mr.
bers will result in saving clcFfcaI
work and in saving space on Jards,
ledgerB and field books.
"The maps were prepared under the
superintendency OF G. NJ Davis, who
has been engaged on the work since
October ], 1916. Mr. Davis has been
handling the records OF this office for
nearly twenty years, and was pecu-
liaFly fitted 10 take up this class o.