Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-17
Amendment to Bill Would
Permit Repayment to
Some Owners.
PROPOSAL TO EoUALIZE
TREATMENT OF CITIZENS
1900 Claims Now on File Ask Ad-
justment of Borland Law
Charges.

The District Commissioners today
submitted an amendment to a bill now
pending in Congress whereby all as
sessments levied against local property
owners fof street paving under the
Borland law during the last three years
would be cancelled and new assess
ments made. The amendment was re-
ceived by Chairman Capper of the Sem
ate District Committee.
The proposed amendment, If enacted
into law. would operate as follows: If
a property owner has already paid an
assessment of. for instance, 5000 under
the existing law while the assessment
would only have been 500 under the
new Borland bill, he would be given q
refund of 500.
This is only one Of several further
amendments to the pending bill which
the Commissioners, through Assistant
Corporation Counsel West, have trans
mitted to the Senate Committee.
Scope Of Court Rulings.
Another amendment suggested is that
If any section of the new Borland bill
should be declared unconstitutional by
the courts, it would not affect the
legality Of the remainder of the new
law.
Still another amendment would re-
duce the rate of interest charged by
the city on deferred payments toward
street-paving assessments from per
cent to s per cent year, but If any
tnstallment is not paid within the pre-
scribed time, 1t would bear interest at
the rate of IL per cent year, which
is the same amount charged on de-
Hnquent real estate taxes.
Today's amendment has an impor.
tant bearing on the problem now con-
fronting the District Commissioners as
to what settlements they should make
on assessments already paid in many
cases that are similar 70 assessments
which, the courts have Cancelled as be-
ing invalid.
During recent hearings before the
Senate Committee, It was stated that
there are approximately $500 claims On
flle from property owners who feel
their assessments should Be adjusted
IN the light Of the several court de.
ctsions which held the existing law un~
constitutional as applied TO many
classes Of property, including lots that
are irregular in shape and also rec
tangular.
Awaiting Congress Action.
At the hearings, it was said by Dis
trict officials that they were waiting to
see what changes Congress was dis
posed to make in the law before pass
ing on these claims.
The text Of the amendment follows:
"The Commissioners Of the District
of Columbia are hereby directed to can
eel all assessments for improvements
completed within three years prior to
the date Of approval of this act, levied
under the authority of the acts of July
81, 1914, and September 1, 1916, relat-
ing to assessments for the paving of
streets, avenues and roads, or under
the act of August z, 1894; and the
Commissioners are further directed to
reassess the cost of such improvements
against the abutting property in ac-
cordance with the provisions of this
act, which assessments shall become
lein upon the AUDITING property and be
collected in the manner provided herein.
Where assessments for such improve
ments have been paid in whole or In
part within three years from the date
of approval of this act the Commits
sioners shall refund, within the limits
of appropriations Of Congress therefor,
to the persons paying the same the ex-
cess, III any, OF Sucn payments over the
amornts of the reassessments levied
hereunder"
Cost Not Estimated.
No estimate was available today as
to the amount of difference in money
that would result from these reassess-
ments, because, it was pointed out, on
Gals are not certain what the final
outcome will be in cases where people
have paid assessments with a notation
that the payment was made under
protest
The pending bill. which would be ape
piled to these past assessments under
the new amendment, seeks to meet the
objections of the cesl=tS To the old law
by regulating the amount of the assess
ments according to the shape of the
lot, the area it covers and the charac-
ter of paving which Is to be laid on
heavily travelled boulevards. Under
the old law property owners have SO
per cent of the cost with no special
provision for irregularly shaped lots, and
with no allowance for the extra cost
to lay thicker pavements on
main arteries.