Evening star., 1931-12-15


cost of operating the District govern
ment equally between the citizens and
property Of the District and the Fed
eral Government. In other words the
Federal Government contributed so per
cent OF the cost and the taxpayers of
the District contributed so per cent
This plan was based upon the unique
method Of measuring the value of Fed
eral property with that of the private
ly-owned property in the District A
value of 30 cents per square foot was
placed upon the streets and avenues,
which added approximately so per cent
to. the valuation Of actual Federal prop
erty, consisting Of parks, public build
ings, etc. In this way valuation for
Government property equal to the val
uation OF privately-owned property was
reached and Congress evidently was
persuaded that the cost of operating
the District government should be split
evenly between the United States and
the District.
in 1875 DIN investigating COM
mttee deterr ned that the Federal
share of TIE expenses of The District
government .lould be fixed at 40 per
cent. The r ccommendation of this Joint
committee, however. was not received
favorably. The f1fty-fifty law was ir
effect from July l, 1873. to July l, 1920
when change was made from a SC
per cent proportion to a 40 per cent
proportion of the total District ex-
penses contributed by the Federal Gov
ernment. This sixty-forty plan con-
tinued until July l, 1925, when Con-
gress changed from the proportionate
contribution to an annual contribution
OF $90000O0 The Seventy first Con-
greSs provided lump-sum contribution
of S9,5000O0
There has been a great deal of con-
troversy from time to time as to the
wisdom of changing from a proportion
ate plan Of contribution to a lump sum
plan. Several of the civic organiza
tions IN the District have protested tha
change. setting up the claim that as
the expenses of the District grew, it
would be only fair that the contribu-
ton Of the Federal Government should
increase accordingly. and that this
could only be fairly done by fixing def
nitely the proportion of the total ex-
penses of the District that should be
paid by the Federal Government.
Advocates Cite Benefits.
The advocates of the lump-sum plan
claim that it has the advantage of aid
ing rather than curbing the carrying
out of public Improvements in the Dis
trict that it tends to moderate local
demands for appropriations through a
realization that the increase must be
locally borne, that being definite and
fixed amount it can at once be set down
in the budget thus simplifying budget
airy procedure; that it makes possible
an increase of appropriations needed
for public improvements in the District
within the limits Of fair taxation with
out any increase of the burden upon an
already overburdered Federal Treasury:
and. furthermore, that the economic
condition of the country. together with
the extraordinary burden of taxation
carried by the people in the States and
the condition of the Federal Treasury
is the answer to the demands for in
erased Federal aid to the District Gov
ernment
(Here follows quotation Of views ex-
pressed before the Joint Select Com
mitee of 1915 by George E. Hamilton,
against the flfty-flfty principle of ap-
propriations)
At best. as was we'll stated by the
joint committee Of Congress in 1915,
the halfand-half plan was conceived
as an economic necessity to lift the
burden Of debt from the oppressed Dis
trict and its taxpaying citizens" And
again. This arbitrary rule-a rule Of
then seeming necessity-need no longer
be applied to District appropriations "
The committee has given careful con-
sideration to all arguments used for
and against the lump-sum plan and
has come to the conclusion that it is
the preferable one.
General Taxation.
eral properties in the various cities Of
the United States having a population
reasonably comparable with the popu-
lation of the District of Columbia. it
has been disclosed that in all these cities
the people are groaning under the
burden of taxation which they have
been compelled to carry. That is partic-
ularly true of the taxes levied upon real
property. This condition is made proml-
nently evident by the extraordinary
amount Of delinquent taxes A
similar economic condition obtains in
the rural sections of the country. If
anything, to greater extent than is
found in urban districts. The commit
tee calls attention to this fact in order
that 1t may be given mature thought in
the consideration of the comparative
tax burden carried by the people Of
the District of Columbia with the tax
burden carried by the people in other
municipalities. -
Another thing that should not be for
gotten In study of this matter is that
there has been a decided depreciation
in realty values everywhere during re-
cent years, particularly in in the indus
trial urban centers Notwithstanding
this depreciation in values the assessed
valuations have not been reduced to
any considerable extent end the public
expenditures have been constantly on
the increase, resulting in an increase
in the levy of taxes.
Assessment of Property.
In making a comparison of assessed
valuations of property in the various
cities it was necessary, of course, to as
certain at what ratio to actual value
property was being assessed. In its
study of this matter the committee
found that various methods are used
TO arrive at a determination of the re-
lation of assessed valuation to actual
values. none of which determines such
relation with absolute accuracy.
Although it is difficult to determine
the relation of assessed values to actual
values, the committee believes that the
ratios as they appear in the statistical
tables attached hereto are as accurate
as 1t is possible to obtain. These ratios
were obtained from the administrative
officers of the municipal governments
who actually make the assessments and
from such organizations as real estate
boards, chambers Of commerce and indi-
vidual citizens familiar with property
values. These administrative officers,
organizations and citizens, being famil-
lar with property values in their respec-
tive communities, are more competent
to determine the actual ratio of assessed
valuations to actual value than any one
else. and therefore the information they
furnished the committee is the most
reliable that could be obtained for ad-
justing tax rates.
The committee has found that one
method Of finding the ratio of assessed
values to actual values frequently used
is to compare the assessed value of
property with the price paid for it at
,-N1, for co1o hi +Lo