Evening star., 1932-04-03
Proposed Motor Vehicle
Weight Levy Will Be Stud
led Tuesday.
GASOLINE TAX INQUIRY
is SCHEDULED FRIDAY
Civic and Trade Organizations Will
Be Represented at
Investigations.

The Senate District Committee, pre-
sided over by Chairman Capper, will
hold public hearings this week on two
more of the bills in the program of the
MapeS Committee, by which the House
is seeking to increase the annual tax
burden of the people of Washington.
The first hearing scheduled for this
week will be devoted to the proposed
motor vehicle weight tax and will start
at 2:30 o'clock Tuesday afternoon. The
second bill considered this week will be
the proposed increase from to cents
a gallon in the gasoline tax, on which
the Senate committee hearing will start
at 2:30 o'clock Friday afternoon.
Trade Groups on Hand.
1t is expected that the Commercial
Motor Vehicle Owners Association, the
American Automobile Association, the
American Motorists Association and
other trade and civic organizations OF
the District will be represented at the
hearings this week.
The Bureau of Efficiency, which was
designated to study all the Mapes bills
for the Senate Committee, submitted a
combined report on the two measures
affecting motor vehicles The bureau
approved the gas tax bill and recon-
mended rewriting of the weight tax
plan as proposed by the House.
At the weight tax hearing on Tues
day, therefore, the Senate Committee
will have before it two propositions
the schedule of rates in the House bill
and the revision of it by the bureau
In preparation for this hearing the
Commercial Motor Vehicle Owners
Association has had a committee at
work formulating reply to the argu-
ments advanced in the Efficiency
Bureaus report.
Rates in Bill Vary.
The rates in the House weight tax
bill vary according to use, weight and
tire equipment. ranging from so cents
per 100 pounds for private passenger
vehicles with pneumatic tires to IS per
100 pounds for trucks weighing over
$4,000 pounds and equipped with metal
tires. The Efficiency Bureaus revision
of this bill would leave passenger cars
and certain light commercial vehicles to
pay 81 registration fee, but would re-
tain weight taxes on trucks. The bu-
reau submitted schedules of weight
taxes for pneumatic tired vehicles with
gross weight in excess of 5000 pounds
and for solid-tire vehicles with gross
weight in excess of 1000 pounds. These
weight tax schedules were based on a
different formula from the House bill
Another New Proposal.
Another new proposition advanced
by the Efficiency Bureau was that the
proceeds of the Accent gas tax, the
weight tax, operator permit fees and
auto title fees be set aside in a sep
arate fund from the general revenues
and applied directly to financing the
street work, half the cost of bridges
and the expenses of motor vehicle ad-
ministration. At present the only tax
that is separated from general revenues
and applied. directly to street work is
the gas tax. The bureau also recon-
mended that the present personal prop
erty tax on motor vehicles be retained
The House had recommended that this
be abolished with the enactment of the
proposed taxes.
Thomas F, Murphy, assistant chief OF
the Efficiency Bureau is expected to
represent the bureau at the hearings
and H. G. Whitehurst will be present
from the District Highway Department