Evening star., 1932-02-04

| wv 1921 was being written the
charge that the people Oh
Washington were ulluel
taxed was renewed by members Vi ,nai ta,I
House. AS result when the locai
appropriation bill passed the HouSe any AZ
went to the Senate in the oplihe, ~
1920 it contained rider 10 e5i,, -
the half-and- plan OF ulyiulils ~ .
| CAPITAL expenses and to increase tlie
tax rate on real estate and tanglole
personal property from p TO zi2 PEI
cent. 1t provided that, instead o. 'ilo ne
! half-and- half, the expenses SlouIu De W
met from District revenues as Ia 90
they were sufficient and any palaiiLt p,.. !.
from the Federal Treasury us soue IN
to destroy entirely the defnte plopoao
ton principle and PROVIDE III ltS piaoe
a vague and indefinite Federal coli.i ~ ~
tion, The Senate, however, put .lie
/ half-and-ta alf provision back IN the p!il
and the issue went TO cohlelIii|I, ,,ln I,o,Ieo .
the same session of Congress the nouse
had also passed separate LEGISLATIVE
bill seeking repeal of the hal1-aha-iai
law, and the Senate also AMENDED tnlS
measure by restoring the 5O-oo laCio'
The conferees on this separate measure
remained deadlocked to the END OF tha'
CONGRESS. In order to get the appIo-
priation bill for the fiscal year l9ZI
| through, however the ContereeS on Ina
bill agreed to temporary oo-4o laIio
for that year only. While the proPoi
ton changed. the fixed ratio prlhclp'e
was preserved.
Another MapeS Bill.
The legislative proposal referred TO IN IN
| the preceding paragraph was lhtiOauCeu
by Representative MapeS OF Micnleail
then chairman Of the House DlSIIlcs
Committee. 1t was taVoraoIv Iepoi yea
from the House District Committee. A
minoritv renort of the committee, signed
bv eight members. was submitted by for
mer Representative Williams OF limos:
! which vigorously opposed as an act OF
Injustice the repeal Of the 5000 ratlo:
In this minority report history OF
the fiscal relations controversy was set
| forth and reference was mace 10 the
investigation by the Joint COMMITTEE OF
! Congress in 1918.
This committee made most COM
prehcnsive and painstaking lnTestlga :
| ton of the whole subject OF C2pltal
! building and maintenance, sad the
minority report
"The relations of the National Gov
ernment to the District Of Columbia
were carefully reviewed from the loca-
| tion of the Capital in 1890 to 1915.
The moral and legal obligations of the
| National Government to the citizens OF
| the District and to the Capital City
were most carefully considered from
every standpoint. The question as to
whether citizens of the District were
paying a fair and reasonable tax COM
pared to that paid by citizens in other
sections of the country, and especially
in other American cities comparable to
Washington in population and resources.
was thoroughly Investigated. Compre-
hensive and accurate data from the
Bureau of the Census was obtained
giving detailed information of municipal
expenditures and receipts of all cities
in the United States over 10000 in
population A great mass of evidence,
oral ana documentary. touching prop
erty values in the District, the manner
in which the assessments were made,
and the true relation of assessed values
to actual values, etc, was considered
The committee submitted a unan-
imous report. On the question of the
reaSonableness of taxes paid by citizens
of the District the committee said:
TIE annual tax rate in Washing
ton is approximately SIG per capita.
In the judgment of your COM
mittee this is reasonable tax levy
at this time, especially when we con-
slider, as we must, that large
proportion of the population here
pays but small amount of the
taxes imposed.
We find from the evidence Of fair
minded men, residents of Washing
ton, familiar with real estate values
in general, that the present assess
ment of real estate for taxation is
fair and reasonable.
We are perfectly aware that many
discrepancies may appear even in
the best regulated assessment plan,
and instances of inequality may be
found in the present assessment in
Washington, but, taken as whole,
the assessments made against all
classes of property in the different
locations in the city are equitable.
The committee believes that in
dependently of the question OF what
should be the proper suject OF
taxation in the District OF Columbia
the payment of taxes on real estate
from the assessments as they are
now constituted is fair ana rea-
sonabIe response in such taxation
for municipal benefits received py
citizens of the District.
City Not Undertaxed.
THE finding of this Joint COMMITTEE
is an authoritative and complete
refutation of the argument that cltlzenS
of the District of Columbia are not pay
ing a lust and reasonable tax com
mensurate with the benefits received
bv them and comparable to the taxes
Maid nv their fellow citizens In other
cities.
THE House District Committee held
extended hearings recently on the sup
iect so thoroughly investigated by the
Joint Fiscal Committee in 1913. Inc
only argument made before the COM
mittee in support of the bill there pro-
posed was based on the ground that
citizens of the District are greatly un-
dertaxed and are not contributing their
equitable share to the expenses OF the
District government. The major port on
of the hearings was limited to the
question Of taxation in the District ana
as to whether or not residents OF Wasn-
ington were paying taxes comparable 10
those paid by citizens OF other sectlonS
of the country, especially in cities
similar to Washington in population,
resources, etc.
"A comprehensive SJdIeIIltllI Plcp1hSN
by S. M. Grogan, chief statist1cian,
statistics Of cities, Bureau of the Census,
was submitted to the committee by
representatives Of the citizens of the
District in support of their contention
that residents of the District OF Colunl-
bia are not undertaXed as compared to
citizens of other American cities. This
statement makes an analytical and
comprehensive comparison of Wash
ington with other cities. The statement
is so voluminous that it is not prac-
ticable to incorporate any considerable
part of it in a statement OF our views
on the bill. 1t appears, in full, in the
record of hearings of the committee.
I'VE have given the evidence sub
mitted to the committee careful study
and consideration, and have also care
fully reviewed and considered the great
mass of evidence on this question heard
by the Joint Fiscal Committee in 1915,
and we have reached the conclusion