Evening star., 1937-01-08
NEW FISCAL RELATIONS PLAN GIVEN TO CONGRESS

creased Cnr0ugn Fedefal aCQu1SlClOnS
Of property and that the District has
benefited therefrom. The report ap-
parently ignores the argument that II
Federal acquisitions of property in the
District continue, the tax load on q
diminishing area must increase.
Comparable Tax Load.
Special attention was called by the
President in his letter transmitting
the fiscal relations report to three sec
tions which, he said, show that while
the extent of local governmental
services in the District of Columbia
Is substantially equal to that in II
cities comparable in size, both the
property tax and the total tax load
in the District of Columbia are lower
than in any of these cities"
The II cities, which the report ex-
planned, are roughly" comparable in
size with Washington, are Pittsburgh.
San Francisco, Milwaukee, Buffalo,
Minneapolis, New Orleans, Cincinnati,
Newark, Kansas City, Seattle, In
dianapolis, Rochester, Jersey City,
Cleveland, st. Louis, Baltimore and
Boston.
To reach its findings, the committee
scrapped the customary method Of
measuring and comparing tax loads in
one city with those in another, and
adopted field survey plan of its
own whereby the actual taxes on
typical properties in the II cities were
compared with those in Washington.
The committee said the practice of
comparing the tax rates of various
municipalities without relation to
competent and uniform appraisal of
property values "has long been con-
demned." 1T Is an acknowledged
fact, it declared, that assessing off,
the methods Of assessments procedure,
assesses property at something diff
ferent from the value. Assessments
of property do not necessarily reflect
the value, even though the statute
requires that the assessment should
be based on the value of property. 1t
is obvious that a tax rate of $50 per
$1,000 of assessed value that repre-
Sents so per cent Of actual value does
not cost the taxpayer more than an
assessment that represents the full
value with q rate of SIS per 81 900.
Property assessments and general
property tax rates are therefore at
best Of limited usefulness for compare
tive purposes. Even where such data
are supplemented by detailed de-
scriptions of State and local tax struc-
lures, assessment methods, and tech
niques, any comparisons Of total or
per capita figures are misleading an0
confusing. Such figures running over
number Of years may be of value as
indicating trends in assessments and
tax rates but serve no other purpose"
Typical Properties Appraised.
What the committee did to reach
its comparative figures was to measure
what it decided was the actual prop
erty tax load by appraising typical
properties and determining tax rates
from the amount of money paid as
taxes per 81 900 of the appraised valu-
alton. Taxes of all other kinds were
added to show the actual money pay
mental needs in the respective COM
munities.
In this study special appraisals and
analyses were made of actual money
outlays by typical taxpayers in the
District and each of the II other
cities. This involved the determine
tion Of actual aggregate State and
local taxes of various kinds which are
paid by owners of similar typical prop
critics in the District and in the other
cities. Short of actually moving the
typical properties with their owners
from city to city, the committee said,
uniform assumptions and appraisals
were made so that the property and
other taxes paid on typical properties
were obtained from each city.
obviously, the most important
phase Of this study" the report de-
clared. was the appraisal of the value
of typical properties in all the cities
on q uniform and sound basis. III
addition to obtaining the sound opin-
ions Of value and the totals of taxes
paid on properties representing cross
section of the improved properties IN
each city, the study also involved de-
termination of actual amounts of Stale
and local taxes which are paid by such
property owners in the respective cities.
The combined property taxes and
other taxes represent aggregate tax
payments made by owners of similar
properties in the cities Of roughly COM
parable size"
AS result Of this study of tax loads,
the committee announced the follow
ing findings:
Il. That the 1885 effective tax rate
on real estate per $1,000 of value is
lower in the District Of Columbia than
in any of the other II cities of COM
parable size.
20. That the total tax load on prop
erty owners, including all taxes paid
by them, is lower in the District than
in any of the comparable cities.
"3. That the sum of various taxes
paid, exclusive of the real estate tax,
is lower in the District than in any
of the other comparable cities.
-. That the tax load in the Dis
trict, even If there were no Federal
Government contribution and an
equivalent amount we're added to tax
levies, would still be lower than in
any of the II other cities.
Even Greater Difference.
In regard to the total tax load
that is, real property taxes plus other
types of taxation-there IS an even
greater difference the committee said,
between the District and the II other
cities than in the case of the real
property taxes. In Washington, it
pointed out, the owner of a $1,000
home pays annual real estate and
other taxes of approximately $101;
in San Francisco, $173-and in Gin
cinnati, approximately $178. In all
the other cities, the committee de-
clared, the property owner pays more
than twice as much as in Washington.
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