Evening star., 1932-01-09
EFFICIENCY BUREAU
ASKED FOR REPORT
ON NEW TAX BILLS
Senate Committee Refers
MapeS Measures to Office
for Study.
TAX INCREASE SPONSOR
DEFENDS HOUSE ACTION
Capper Hopes for Early Findings
to Enable Upper House to
Begin Hearings.

The Bureau of Efficiency, whose Off
Gals nave become thoroughly familiar
with local taxation and the fiscal re-
latlonS problem, will be asked by the
Senate District Committee to make
study of the Mapes bills, which seek
to add approximately 81 900 900 a year
to the Districts tax burden and to re-
peal the substantive law of 1922 which
fixed 60-4o as the ratio for apportion-
ing expenses between the District and
Federal governments.
Representative Mapes of Michigan.
chairman of the Special Committee
which drafted the bills and put them
through the House attended the meet
ing yesterday afternoon at which the
Senate group decided to seek the advice
OF the Efficiency Bureau.
ASKED by Chairman Capper of the
Senate Committee if he wished to speak.
Mr.. Mapes briefly defended the findings
OF MS committee, stating, among other
Things, that the Efficiency Bureau had
made recommendations which the
House Committee felt it could not fol-
low.
No Report on Bills.
Questions put to Mr. Mapes by Sena-
tor Gore, Democrat of Oklahoma.
brought out that while the Efficiency
Bureau reported on taxation and fiscal
relations before the bills were drafted
the House Committee did not get a re-
port from the efficiency experts on the
bills.
The proposal to seek the aid of ths
efficiency Bureau was advanced by SEN
ator Capper as step preliminary to
beginning formal Senate hearings on
the bills. The meeting yesterday was
not intended as hearing on the meas.
ures, but a discussion of procedure.
When Senator King, Democrat, oi
should study the bills, Senator Capper
replied:
ITO get all the information we can
from every source"
Senator King, asking whether the bu-
reau officials claimed to be tax experts,
said he would rather have some group
other than accountants make the study.
Will Be Studied Carefully.
Senator Capper pointed out that the
bureau is familiar with the subject from
its previous inquiries, and the chairman
reminded Senator King that the recon-
mendations of the bureau would not be
binding on the committee as to its final
action on the bills. Senator Capper
said later he would request the bureau
to make its report at the earliest con-
venient date, and that the bills would
be gone into carefully by the entire
membership of the committee rather
than by subcommittee.
Commenting on Senator Kings re-
marks, DR.. George Havenner said he
would like to see the problem studied
by joint congressional and citizens
committee.
Senator King said he thought that
when the Senate Committee takes up
the bills it should have MFR. Mapes
present and get the benefit of the re-
port made by the Mapes Committee.
Noticing that Mr. Mapes was present,
Senator Capper asked him If he wished
to speak.
Mr.. Mapes prefaced his defense of
the House committees report and flnd-
ings by explaining he had merely come
over from the House to confer with the
chairman and had not expected TO
make formal statement.
Report Speaks for Self.
"The report of the committee speaks
very largely for ITSELF" Mr.. MapeS said,
referring to the House group. "The
committee of the House, it's members
felt, went into the subject thoroughly
and reported what we thought was de-
sirable legislation"
Did you get report from the Bu-
reau of Efficiency?" Senator Gore in
quired.
mo, not on the bills" Mr.. Mapes
replied. He added his belief that the
bureau is a fact-finding agency. The
bills relate to legislative policy, he said.
Senator Gore pursued his question by
asking If the bureau made report
prior to the drafting of the bills.
Mr.. Mapes said he thought there was
some misunderstanding about that. He
said that "about three years ago the
Efficiency Bureau reported to the Ap-
preparations Committee, and when our
committee met it found the bureau
had brought that report up to date"
Commenting on this latest report of the
Efficiency Bureau, Mr.. Mapes added:
1T made recommendations the House
Fiscal Relations Committee thought it
could not follow"
Property Should Be Basis.
Senator Capper observed that he has
found, in talking to the Senate Com
mittee members, that they want a thor
ough study made of the questions pre-
sented.
When Mr. Mapes said the House
Committee felt the adjusted tax rate
of Washington is lever than in other
comparable cities, Senator Gore asked:
Did you work it out on a per capita
Mr.. Mapes replied the House group
did not regard the per capita basis as
of much value. He said the House
Committee felt "the property and the
mans ability to pay" should be the
basis
The last report of the Efficiency Bu-
reau, which the House committee de-
cided it could not follow, came to the
conclusion that the Federal contribu-
tion toward the annual District ap-
preparation bill should be sl0,183, ,391,
whereas the contribution at present Is
$9,500,000, and the program OF the
House committee contemplateS reduc-
ing it to $6,500,0
The bureau reached it's conclusion
by making allowance for the RESPONSE
bility of the Federal Government as
a municipal taxpayer and considering
the loss of revenue to Washington by
reason of being the National Capital.
Use Two Washingtons.
In compiling taxation statistics the
bureau compared the other cities with
two WaShingtons, one with Federal
property holdings excluded and the
other including the value of property
used by the Federal Government in
the conduct of its business in the Ma
tional Capital. And the bureaus ex-
pert, testifying before the House COM
mittee early in its proceedings, con-
tended the Federal holdings should be
included in the comparisons, since in
Washington the Federal holdings take
the place OF large tax-paying corpora
tions in other cities.
The Senate Committee at yester-
days meeting ordered favorable re-
ports on the following bills: To enable
the District assessor to testify as an
expert In condemnation cases, to admit
pay patients to the conta oiouS diSeasa