Evening star., 1927-03-28
OFFUTT RESENTS
GAS TAX EFFORT
Special Session of Auto Ad-
viSory Board to Be Called
Wednesday.

The advisory board of the District
of Columbia division of the American
Automobile Association will hold a
special session Wednesday to CON
slider the proposal to increase the
gasoline tax of the District.
The call for the meeting has been
sent out by George w. Offutt, chair
man of the board, which represents
more than 1900 Washington
motorists.
The official position of the board
will not be set forth until the meeting.
Mr.. Offutt feels personally, however,
that decisive action by District
authorities is necessary in order to
offset propaganda and pressure from
various sources for the tax.
Deserves Careful Thought.
Mr.. Offutt's statement follows:
This matter of proposed million
dollar levy on the car owners of
Washington is SO important that it
deserves the most careful conSidera-
ton from every conceivable angle.
To yield simply because Maryland
wants Accent gasoline tax is no
argument whatsoever, so far as the
District is concerned. Let's defend
the interests of our own citizens and
of the community, and guide our
selves accordingly, or abdlcate IN
favor of Maryland.
PERSONALLY, I do not see any justi-
ficatior for the proposed increase. The
only justification would be that we
needed more money for road main
tenance and construction in the Dis
trict, and that it should be decided
that the motorists should pay the toll.
Fortunately, the District Commission
ers have minated that they feel that
the car owners are already paying
their share in proportion to the road
mileage that they use.
Have Different Problems.
Maryland has one problem. We
have an entirely different problem.
Let us examine for a moment the his
tory of the gasoline tax in the Dis
trict. Two years ago a reciprocity
agreement was reached between
Maryland and the District. At that
time we in Washington, under a con-
siderable amount of pressure from
representatives of Maryland in Con-
gress and from adjoining districts of
Maryland, adopted a 2-cent gasoline
tax, the same as that in effect in
Maryland.
'At the time that this gasoline tax
went into effect, the car owners were
given to understand that the personal
propery tax, as far as it applied to
automobiles in the District, would be
abolished. No step has been taken
toward this abolition, with the result
that the Washington car owners have
been paying at the rate of a million
dollars in gasoline taxes and at the
same time paying the personal prop
erty tax, which they understood was
to be removed when the gasoline tax
went into effect. There is only one
way to look at this. 1t constitutes.
IN my opinion, serious breach of
faith with the car owners, and any
assurance that we may get now that
the personal property tax will be elm
mated after the gasoline tax is in
creased will not carry much weight
Once bitten, twice shy. Because of
this, / do not believe that the Wash
1ngton motorists will be much inter
ested in the argument put forward by
William P. Richards, tax assessor.
Hits Whitehurst Stand.
"Capt. H. C. Whitehurst, Assistant
Engineer Commissioner, is represented
as favoring an increase in the gaso-
line tax in Washington on the ground
that more revenue is necessary for
road building. This argument de-
serves more careful consideration, but
personally l do not believe it holds
water.
''The District of Columbia has $40
miles of improved roads. The general
consensus of those who have made
serious study of the question is that
the one million dollars that the Dis
trict car owners are already paying Is
ample for the maintenance of this Sys-
tenn as far as the car owners share
is concerned.
THE argument of Capt Whitehurst,
that Washington car owners are pay
ing less than car owners in some other
States, is or course completely beside
the point. We pay according to our
obligations and if we are now paying
enough to meet the needs of the sys-
tenn we are maintaining, any addi-
fional levy would merely serve to dis
tort the relative weight of the burden
carried by our various classes of citi-
gems. In this particular instance the
distortion would be to the serious dis
advantage of the car-owning public
that is, 100000 people.
Enormous Road System.
"It is true that at the moment
maryland, with her 2-cent gasoline tax
and her registration fee, imposes a
State levy of $19 per car on the
average. The District of Columbia i'm
poses approximately $11.55. Here the
comparison ceases for the reason that
we have a comparatively small sys-
tenn of highway in the District, where
as Maryland has an enormous system
throughout large State.
Speaking for myself. I strongly re-
sent the pressure brought on the Dis
trict to play second fiddle to Mary
land in this particular matter. If
Maryland wants to raise her gasoline
tax from 2 TO cents, that's her bust
ness. Her needs may justify it. Her
doing SO would probably put out of
business a few gasoline stations at
nearby Maryland points, but that
would not, in my opinion, constitute
justification for the imposition of an
additional million dollars in gasoline
taxes on District residents | note
that in some instances members of
Congress from Maryland have given
assurance that the District of Colum.
bia would follow the lead Of MARYLAND
In this matter. Probably the reason
for the assurance is that the motor.
lists yielded so easily the last time this