New-York tribune., 1922-06-04
Government
Control Means
Higher Taxes
Exempt Securiiie Would BE
Increased TO -2o.0O0.-
100000: Pubnc Owner
ship Popular With Voters

Tho growing tendency 70 place thc
operation Of public utilities IN thc
hands Of municipal authorities is
viewed with mIer.g.ng by zeal estate
men as a group becauro o. the effect 30
mag have on taxation. Municipal
operation means tax exemption for
that which Is operated Something
cleo must be found 70 take the place
of tho exempted in fhe irs of 'atlh'ef.
and N mo- rew revenue arn ..oIcrr1
tho Oh stand hr roaI property must
take on Tho cNfr1 burden.
Tho Real Estate Board of Ncw York.
in "a statement yesterday t1Fs, "In fr
United Sufor trrro aro municipal
public utilities. privately opnfe. 'sI-
ucd in tho no.Chh0rh00d Ol 800 N''-
600 600. There aro mur.c.na'r owned
public utilities estimated t0 bo worth
So. 600 200 600. NJ all public ntH'o. ore
20 be- acquired and publicly owned Do
would moan additional bond fle lr
municinl' amounting fo af l'a.f
sli 600 600 000, which. added f1 f.'
fl1 900 600 600 OF taH-cvcmrf 0r.nrfies
now outstanding. would moan ON0..
000.0 900 Of tay-cycmpt securities, or
about 0ro-ffth ~ all our taxable nlr
tioral wealth ciievci from trc burden
~ taxation. II it is finally decided 20
operato these public utiItlef munlci-
pally another tremendous situation Do
created.
Government Ownership Is Costly
"Thore are certain functions Of per-
sonal service general IN character,
which should properly be performed
by tho community but 10 is a serious
question whether other lines of wofk
though absolutely essential % me
health. convenience and prosperity ~
the community can De as succctsiilly
and economically managed and operated
by the municipality as b. private eH-
terpriso.
"ft Is certain that tho experience
of the government IN operating ihc
railroads during the war and the eN-
noriorco of some Of our large munici.
palitlos In operating local transporia'
tion lines was not such as 20 llstlty
public operation, There arc mary cf-
coliont and conclusive reasons why
thero should be public ownership ~
nublic utilities in municipality but
II does not necessarily follow that
ouhiic operation Of such utilities IS
az desirable. Such municipal opera
zion iq always. with our present sys-
ten, OF civil service, more costly than
private operation and it has not yef
boen nroved that it is more Efficient.
In the large cities there have been
vory few municipality owned and oper-
atod nuhlic utilities that have shown
Themselves soif-supporting. Tn New
York the movement for tho ownership
and operation Of public utilities has
made great headway and IS probably
supported sympathotically BY tho ma
ioritv of The voters. Should the con-
stitution be 40 amended and the neces-
sarv legislation enacted that the city
could and did operate all its pubic
utilities the result would be trcmend-
Gus oither for good or evil
Bill Is Against Property
aTho vital interest Of the prop
,r,v owner in New York lies IN the
fact that he must pay tho bill, that
tho securities issued for the purchase
OF the utilities, l'c against his prop
orty and that be numbers only one
twcnty-fourth OF the population.
ON Manhattan, for instance, only z
nor cent OF tho heads Of families own
thoir own homes, % per cent Of tho
heads Of families can. in that borough
therefore be presumed 90 be less inter
estsd In eity-ownod pUblic utilities re-
turning a profit on tneig operation than
they would be IN securing lower rates
Tor the service they render and better
and moro cnieient facilities. The Tact
mat under existing transportation con-
d,tions there Is an annual loss % the
city OF Si0O00OoO IN the operation oi
The subways. which deficit must be met
In the budget and adding ten points 20
tho tax rate receives very httle. pup
lie attention and scarcely any adverse
public criticism.