The Washington times., 1922-05-03
GiUir,g the BOrLand Act
One Good Punch
BY BILL PRICE.

pity that the entire act cannot be knocked out The
District Commissioners will not appeal, being
vnced that the opinions of the local courts would not
be overturned in the United States Supreme Court
The two courts hold that the Borland act, re-
quring property owners to pay one-half of the cost
of road and street paving, does not apply to suburban
propery-doubess referring to undivided or di
vded acreage removed from the conveniences of the
city proper and where the improvement assessments
upon the property out of all proportion to tho
values fixed by the assessors office for taxation.
In many ways the law applied to these suburb
an properties, amounted to confscation, pure and
simple. AS is the case with the entire Borand law,
it is manfestly unfair, amounting to double taxa
ton of property living in areas where the
streets had not been paved when the properties
bought.
The purpose of the author of the law was identical
y the same as that of some presentday Congressman
imposition of every bit of taxation on the people
of the District they could possibly bare, regardless
against confscation.
Under this law a property owner-well III say the
owner of small home-goes into portion of the
district where streets have not been paved. Gen
orally he does this because the real estate can be
ago The location may be street. road or avenue.
Upon his property he pays the regular taxes Of the
District, taxes which ought to be used for improving
the thoroughfare he is on whenever conditions of
public travel warrant If he is lucky enough to get
water put in he pays special assessment for that
each foot of frontage. If he gets sewer connec-
tons he pays the District per foot for that. Out
of the general taxes he has paid in he ought to get
l,,% m
soners decide to pave the street for the BENEFIT
OF THE WHOLE PUBLIC-vehicles and pedes
trians travelling that way. The small property owner
then pays the Borland tax-one half the total cost
If the Commissioners decide on sidewalk. In hi.
locality and is put down in front of his property
he pays THE ENTIRE COST OF THAT, the i'm
provement still being for the benefit of the entire
community.
If the property is unimproved, and the owner
lives elsewhere, he pays general taxes and flock
of special taxes not for the personal benefits but
for everybody.
And yet there are men in Congress who persist in
their attempts to increase the general taxes paid by
the people of the District in the face of the fact that
these taxes only recently increased by act Of
Congress.
Those Senators and Congressman who sincerely
have the future growth and Identification of Wash.
ington in mind-not for the qualification of local
people, but for the people of the whole nation to
visualize partly belonging to them-ought to be
able to see the rank njustices of the Borland act
as form of double taxation and the injurious ef-
fects that may follow outrageous taxation so far
the growth of the District is concerned.
Will home building and the tdying of home
properties continue if the small and humble home
owners to be taxed beyond their means! Why
should executive heads of the Government seek to
revive more prosperous conditions by advising con-
struction of homes TO give employment, while the
legislative branch proceeds to throw obstructons in
the wayi
We do not believe there need be alarm in the
District over the radical taxation and fiscal prog1a
the conferees the District appropriation bill