Evening star., 1921-09-16
DRIVE LAUNCHED
ON NbORLANDLA
Citizens Associations 0p-
pose Plan of Assessment
for Street Paving.
GO BEFORE COMMISSION
Ask Heads of City Government to
Take Their Appeal for Re-
peal to Congress.
GO BEFORE COMMISSION

The Federation OF Citizens Asso-
Citations today launched it's campaign
sfog. rspeal Of 4hs sRoriand law, which
assesses half: the cost of street paw
ttz< sss q:
4 special committee Sf tIe M I fedora.
tion. headed by william NICK Clay.
ton. appeared before the Commission
ers. IN board session. at the District
building, and appealed to them as
representatives of the people of
the mssee eitizene n IN III. II S fshi nsFe.' win
Mr.. Clayton told the Commission
ers the citizens are not asking repeal
of the Bor}arid law in order to escape
taxation for street-impfovements. but
that they want the city's share of
street paving to come out OF the gen
eral tax. moneys as 1t did for fifty
years.
All Get BeneAts.
He laid emphasis upon the fact that
all residents Of the city. especially
the thousands who own automobiles.
benefit from street Improvements.
and, therefore. half the cost should
not be levied against the few people
who happen to live on the street that
is improved.
He also called attention to the fact
that the one-half paid toward street
improvements by the abutting prop
erty owners is not all the city pays.
Under the financial arrangement now
existing between the federal and Dis
trict governments. the taxpayers of
the District as d whole pay 60 per
cent of the remaining half of the cost
Of street paving job. and the federal
government 40 per cent.
Actually Pay 80 Per Cent.
| Mr.. Clayton showed that the actual
result is that the people of the Dis
trict nay so per cent and the United
States, 20 per cent of every street
Improvement. This. he declared. is a
violation both of the ffty-fifty and
the sixty.forty agreements that have
existed between Uncle Sam and the
District government
Commissioner Rudolph asked Mr.
Clayton II the federation had pre-
pared a bill for presentation to Con-
gress providing for the repeal Of the
Borland law.
Mr.. Clayton said no such bill has
been prepared because the citizens
hope to have the Commissioners, as
the Official Representatives Of the peo-
pie, ask Congress in their annual re-
port to repeal the law as. lit was en-
acted, by q clause in the next appro-
priation bill.
One citizen. Edward NJ. cleary OF
Brightwood, arose at the hearing to
defend the Borland law. He told the
Commissioners 1t would be extremely
inadvisahle to agitate the question be-
fore Congress. He expressed fear
that the answer OF Congress to such
an. appeal would be to levy 100 per
cent. OF the cost Of paving against
abutting property owners e.
Makes Better Distribution.
Without the Borland law. he argued,
wealthy individuals who own large
tracts Of vacant land would have the
abutting streets improved at the ex-
pense Of all the taxpayers Of the city.
With the Borlaf1d law. he said, they
must bear their share OF the cost when
the streets are paved.
why" asked Mr. Clayton, should
street improvements be singled out for
q special assessment when school,
houses are built in all sections Of the
city out of the general tax fund? We
are not asking to be relieved Of taxa
tfon or to have our. tax rate reduced.
All we are asking Is that the tax bur.
den. for street improvements be dis
tributed among all the taxpayers and
Continued on Page 2, Column 81