Evening star., 1925-05-08
Increase July ! Told as City
Heads Hold First Session
With Advisers.
ADJUSTMENT OF FISCAL
ARRANGEMENT is URGED
Councilmen Voice Opinion S9,0OO,,
600 Grant From U. S. Should
Not Be Permanent.

] ne TAX rate on real estate and tan
Slble personal property will be in
creased from S14O 10 approximately
Sl7o per 800 OF assessed value for
the fiscal year beginning July !. Mai
Daniel j. Donovan, city auditor, re-
vealed today at the first meeting be-
tween the District Commissioners and
the Citizens Advisory Council.
This was the outstanding develop
ment of the first conference with the
council, and came while Engineer
Commissioner Bell was outlining to
the councilmen how he believes the
new advisory board can be of service
10 the city in the preparation of esti,
mates.
Fiscal Plan Up.
Another important development wa
the expression OF opinion by several
members of the council that a con
certed effort should be made to have
Congress determine definitely, after
careful investigation, what the Fed
eral Government contribution should
he in the annual appropriation for the
National Capital.
Several councilmen voiced the be
lief that the people of the District
should not accept the present SO 600.
sam as permanent, but should con
tinue TO work for an equitable settle
ment of the question of fiscal rela-
tions.
At the opening of the meeting the
nine members of the council united in
taking the following oath of office.
administered by Daniel h Garges,
secretary TO the Board Of Commits
SionerS:
Text of Oath.
t. having been duly elected 4 mem
Der of the Citizens Advisory Council.
at meeting called with the approval
of the Commissioners of the Distric,
of Columbia, do solemnly swear that
! will support and defend the Consti.
tuition of the United States and per
form such duties as may be assigned
TO said council by said Commissioners,
to the best of my ability, without fear
or favor: that l will exercise my best
Judgment and will consider each mat.
ter submitted to said council as one
affecting the entire District of Column
bia, and that l will well and faith
fully discharge said duties, so help me
God"
The full membership of the council
was present namely: Jesse c. Suter
Charles A. Baker, W. I. Swanton
George f. Wales, w. :. Torbert
George c. Havenner and H. \. Stull
representing the white citizens asso.
Citations; George H. Richardson and
George Beason, representing the col
ored population.
Based on Appropriations.
When asked by Col Bell for an esti-
mate of the tax rate for the next fiscal
year, Maj. Donovan said his predic-
tion might be altered somewhat by the
final tabulation of this years collec-
tions on June so. He declared. how.
ever, that the new rate would not be
far from S1.10, an increase of 80 cents
on the S100 of assessment. This is
based on appropriations for the next
fiscal year, affecting the tax rate of
approximately S31, 100000.
In order to give the council mem
bers something to guide them in con
sidering how large the budget for the
fiscal year 1927 should be, Col. Bell
asked Auditor Donovan To estimate
how much cents added to the tax
rate would mean in revenue.
Maj. Donovan figured that under
the new assessments, TO be put into
effect July l. the adding of / cert 10
the tax rate would produce $1,000
of revenue.
Information for Council.
With this information the council
members will be able to calculate how
they would affect the tax rate by any
increase in the total budget they may
recommend.
Commissioner Cuno II. Rudolph pro-
posed that the council, in preparing TO
make recommendations to the Com
missioners for the budget about to be
begun, should divide itself up into
committees to inquire into the various
engineering needs of the CITY
Under this suggestion each member
of the council would study the re-
quirements of certain departments
after which the council could meet as
n whole and prepare its combined rec
concentrations for the Commissioners.
Want Individual Needs
Councilman Richardson added to
this suggestion the thought that each
department head in the District Build
ing could prepare for the council a
brief outline of his most important
projects, from which the council could
make it's recommendations to the Com
missioners.
While the taX-rate question was
under discussion, Col. Bell said that.
with Congress making lump-sum
contribution to National Capital
maintenance. he felt the people of the
city should have some voice in the
tax rate, and that he saw no better
way than through the council
In a preliminary outline of what the
Commissioners expect of the council
in connection with estimates, Col. Bell
Ga id.