Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-19
Washington's Adequate Taxes.

Washington's Adequate Taxes.
A question put with persistent regu-
larity to nearly every witness appear
ing before the House Fiscal Committee
has been worded substantially as fol-
lows; do you believe the residents of
the District should have q tax burden
comparable to the tax burdens Of other
cities of like size?"
Occasionally "tax rate" has been sub
stituted for "tax burden" but one pre-
fers to believe the substitution is more
in the nature of a slip of the tongue
than anything else. Tax rate" of
course, is no measure of the tax bur-
den. Without taking into considera-
ton the rate of assessment, the tax rate
alone Is as meaningless q figure in
connection with the tax burden as is
any other multiplier, used alone and
without mention of the multiplicand or
the result.
The answer to the first question has
been YES" and it is the correct and
obvious answer. 1t might have been
taken for granted in the first place, as
no other answer could be substantiated
on any reasonable grounds. But as in
the case of the classic categorical ques-
tion-"Have you stopped beating your
wife?"-a categorical yes or no carries
implications lending themselves easily
to capitalization. 1t is to be believed
that the committee has no intention of
resorting to trick questions.
The important question is whether
the District Is now adequately taxed
and whether the residents of the Dis
tr1ct already have a tax burden COM
parable to other cities Of like size.
The only witness before the commit
tee who could qualify as an expert in
comparative tax burdens has been Mr..
Murphy of the Bureau of Efficiency.
His testimony and the exhibits offered
In the form of extensive tables and the
report of the Bureau Of Efficiency rep
resent exhaustive and careful investi-
CATION of the subject. They show that
the District Is already adequately taxed,
that the tax burden in Washington
compares favorably with the tax burden
not only Of cities Of approximately the
same size, but Of vastly larger and
richer cities.
Should the people Of the District pay
adequately IN taxes irrespective of the
Federal hohings2
This is another question that, as
worded, has been correctly answered in
the affirmative by the witnesses. OF
course they should pay adequately, and
Of course they do.
The important factor in this connec-
ton, however, Is that the extent of the
Districts tax burden cannot, for pur-
poses Of comparison with those Of other
cities, be measured without taking into
consideration the Federal holdings,
which, in the case Of Washington, rep
resent vast tax-exempt properties. In
the other cities comparable real estate
holdings yield property taxes, and the
holders Of such real estate pay heavily
on their intangibles. The tax-paying
fraction Of Washington without govern
ment holdings already yields a general
property per capita levy that exceeds
the per capita general property levy Of
the whole Of Baltimore or st. Louis or
New Orleans. When the comparison is
reduced to city taxes alone, including
county taxes, and further reduced to
taxes for current maintenance-which
do not include the portion Of taxes that
go to pay debts, representing past ex-
penditures for permanent improvements
not enjoyed in Washington-the per
capita burden Of the tax-paying frac-
ton of Washington exceeds the COM
parable burden Of nine of the fourteen
cities selected for comparison by the
Bureau of Efficiency.
But when comparisons are made on
the basis Of per capitas, it is necessary
to include the Federal holdings or tax
exempt property here, that Is far in
excess Of tax exemptions anywhere else.
When they are included and the city
taxes for current maintenance COM
pared, Washington's per capita exceeds
all except one Of the per capitas of
other cities.
And comparisons Of this kind, tax
ing into account only approximate
similarity in population, make no al
lowances for such important considera-
tons as efficiency or economy in city
governments. They include the eff
GENTLY governed, progressive cities along
ernments are notorious.
washington should pay taxes COM
parable TO those of other cities. But
70 make them comparable the effort
must be TO reduce, and not to increase,
the existing tax burden.