Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-20
Dead But Still Kicking.


Granting that the Commissioners are
victims of circumstance and must en-
force the law so long as any semblance
Of 1t remains on the statute books, the
complicated situation brought about by
court decisions relating to the Borland
amendment leaves the municipality in
q ridiculous light. In the opinion Of
the corporation counsel there is little.
II anything, left of the Borland law.
If the District Court of Appeals upholds
the decision of the lower courts in the
so-called Dodge C--e, so much prop
erty that has he-l assessed for high
way paving wiz be exempted from
assessments under this ruling that it
would be inequitable to require other
and less numerous properties to bear
the burden of these assessments, and
there seems little doubt that the Court
Of Appeals will agree with the findings
Of the lower court. The corporation
counsel goes so far as to say that it is
almost a foregone conclusion" that the
Court of Appeals will decide the case
as the District Supreme Court decided
it, and that practically no assessable
property would be left for further ap-
plication Of remnants of the Borland
law.
Yet the District must solemnly con-
tinue to enforce the law, proceed to
continue the lengthy and dilatory lti-
cation that has marked its enforce
ment heretofore, collect assessments
where it can while sagely admitting
that the assessments are. in all prob
ability, invalid. 1t viii continue to hold
moneys that obviously have been COL
1ected under methods that are I'M
constitutional and split hairs to justify
its course. There are, admittedly, no
other alternatives, unless the Commas
sioners were willing TO take the blame
for administering the final death blow
to law that will continue to wag its
tail feebly until the courts have
formally pronounced life extinct. This
the Commissioners are unwilling to do,
and one cannot hold them to blame.
They must show diligent regard for
the formalities.
In the meantime it is to be hoped
that Congress will find time to pay
more attention to the proposed substi-
tute for the Borland law than it did
in the last session. The principle In the
Borland law that recognized direct
property benefit accruing to AUDITING
property owners in the improvement of
q street may be sound. The Borland
law was unsound and even vicious in
the discrimination resulting from at
temptS to enforce it and in the case
Of the Capital, with its unique and
magnificent plan of streets, was unfair
to the property owner by placing upon
his shoulders grossly excessive proper
ton of the burden of expense of the
improvement, thereby enabling the
Federal Government which made the
original street plans with the under
standing that it would assist largely in
carrying them out, to reduce its con-
tribution from one-haf of the total
cost to one-fourth, and later to reduce
1t far under the one-fourth. Proposed
substitutes to the Borland law would
place a fixed maximum assessment on
property receiving benefits from street
paving, this maximum bearing no rela-
ton to the cost Of the whole. The
abUtting property owner would pay
what Is construed to be a fair benefit
assessment, computed on front foot or
square foot basis But the balance Of
cost of the project would be drawn from
the general revenues to which the tax
payers and the Federal Government
contribute The substitute for the Bor-
land law would also take cognizance
Of and remedy the difficulties arising
from lots Of unequal depth or shape and
prevent the double assessments posi-
BILE under the original Borland act in
the case of triangular property fronting
on two streets.
The parts of the substitute legislation
relating to the amount of benefit assess
ments are TO be thoroughly studied.
But the old Borland law, whether or not
the Commissioners are willing to take
the view ofhcially, is of the books, Con-
gress must make the substitute legisla-
ton a matter Of immediate concern at
its next session.