Evening star., 1934-12-16
Where Will the Inquiry Lead9

Where Will the Inquiry Leada
The District Is not anxious to cross
bridges before it comes to them. But
high confidence in the Presidents sin
cere desire not only to be absolutely
fair to the District, but to end re-
curing, harmful disputes over policy
in appropriating for the District,
renders important the matter Of ex-
amining certain bridges which lie
ahead.
The inquiry into local taxation has
. been delegated to capable hands at
the Treasury, and the President has
suggested that it should be completed
before Congress convenes. The scope
Of the inquiry has not been revealed,
but the time available seems to limit
1t to Q study Of relative tax burdens.
That would leave untouched many
other elements that have even
greater bearing on the subject of
fiscal relations.
The people Of the District have
nothing to do with deciding the
amount or form Of local taxation.
But the action by the exclusively
controlling Congress in the past few
years regarding local taxation sup
plies a significant background against
which the present tax inquiry should
be examined.
Shortly after the Presidents in
auguration, in March, 1888, Congress
passed the 1884 District bill, reduced
by about 26 per cent. The Federal
lump sum was reduced proportion
ately to its present figure of
$5,7oo,o0o. Had the then existing
local rate Of taxation remained un-
changed. the result would have been
to tax the District for money which
Congress refused to appropriate and
to pile up surplus funds in the
Treasury.
The House eliminated a legislative
rider Of previous years which forbade
any reduction In taxation, and in
effect proposed that the tax rate be re-
duced to 81. SO from s170. In arguing
for the tax reduction, Chairman
Buchanan Of the Appropriations
Committee, said:
As my colleague has said, the tax
rate is $1.70 on the fair full valuation
of real estate. In my home State and
in yours, when property is assessed
for taxation purposes it is assessed
at about so per cent Of its fair value
and taxes are paid on that amount.
Here the property is assessed at full
value and the tax rate of $l.70 is
paid on the full value. This is an
exorbitant and unreasonable real
estate tax in this District. There
are thousands of poor people at
tempting to buy homes in the District
and for them to be required to pay
$3.40 per 500 in taxes on the valua-
tion Of these homes according to the
way property would be assessed in
other States of the Union is too
much. -" The tax rate in the Dis
trict should be reduced from $1.7O
to $50 on real estate.
The tax rate was liter reduced, as
recommended by the Commissioners.
Last year the District bill was re-
ported with a rider proposing that the
tax rate on real estate and tangible
personal property shall be not more
than s1.20 per 500 assessed valua-
ton" for the ensuing fiscal year. The
District was amazed, when the bill
came up for debate in the House, to
hear from previous advocates of
higher taxes impassioned pleas to re-
duce the tax rate. And when Repre-
sentative Otter Of Pennsylvania, ar
guing that the District sorely needed
the revenue from current taxation,
was successful in his point of order
against the legislative rider, those who
O minute before had been pleading to
reduce the District taxes jumped on
Mr.. Otter and the defenseless Dis
trict Of Columbia and denounced
them with the sort of abuse that has
become unfortunately traditional, ac-
cusing the District of tax-dodging and
other high crimes.
To punish Mr.. Otter for arguing
that the District should apply all its
available taxes to pressing needs rath-
or than reduce the rate of taxation,
the House then reversed the recon-
mendation OF its committee - which
had declared the District would not
have to repay certain grants for Fed
eral projects"-and on motion of
those who had made the original rec
ommendation said the grants were a
loan and deducted seventy per cent Of
the grants from the hump sum, reduc-
ing It to the unheard-of figure of
$4,S39 ,295.
Just three years ago this month the
so-called Mapes Committee Of the
House recommended an increased tax
burden for the District of about
$4,l00,o00, which 1t proposed to cou-
pie with a lump-sum appropriation
mot to exceed $500 ,oo0." The Sen
ate did not act on the Mapes program.
For one thing, that program was
based ON q demonstrably false premise.
But the lump sum has nevertheless
been reduced almost million dollars
under the drastic Mapes proposal.
And the efforts of certain members of
the House have been directed to an
attempt to show that the District
budget can be supported with stead
ily diminishing Federal contribution,