Evening star., 1937-01-29

governmental employment,
its beautiful buildings and other at
fractions to Americans who come here
to visit the Capital are sometimes
mentioned as offsets to the disad-
vantages Of residence in the District
Of Columbia.
But without discounting such bene-
fits it Is misleading to present them
altogether as complete blessings
They require careful analysis, espe-
cially when cited in justification Of
drastic increases in local taxation.
The Lincoln Memorial is an archi-
tectural gem, but it buffers few par
ships for the local taxpayer. The in
crease in local population resulting
from the influx of governmental en-
ployes stimulates retail trade. hous-
ing and related business. But the
growth of population recorded iE the
census estimates is not fully reflecte I'd
on the tax collectors rolls.
With all its advantages as beauti-
full city and a pleasant place to live,
Washington is poorer in taxable re-
sources than the average American
city Of its size. and that fact should
be taken heavily into account when
It's tax burden Is compared with that
Of other cities.
Non Industrial, Residential City.
Non industrial Washington, with
the small taxpayers in Government
employ constituting the city's finan-
cial backbone and with real estate con-
stituting its most important private
business, is poorer in taxable re-
sources than the average American
city of its size and is less able to bear
the same tax burden. No other city
has so large an area Of tax-eXempt
property. And this tax-exempt really
houses the city's only large industry
the Federal Government. The eXtraor-
dinary exemptions of taxable valubles
increase the burden upon the tax-pay-
ing fraction of the city.
1t is to be doubted that any city
Of the United States has as large a
percentage of non-tax-paying resi-
dents as Washington; residents who
figure in the population, but not on
the tax lists. Because of the very ma
ture Of Washington as the Nations
city, q part OF Washingtons popula-
ton Is shifting, changing with the
administrations and the vicissitudes
Of politics. The disabilities-commer-
eial, industrial and political-connected
with legal residence in Washington
tend to cause those who live within
Its boundaries to retain or to secure
legal residence elsewhere and thus (as
to personally and often as to reality
70 keep of the city's tax lists.
The marked trend of population
from Washington to the suburban
areas Of adjacent Maryland and Vir-
ginia Is shown in the rapid growth
OF those areas. And Of all the cities
Of the Nation, Washington is unique
In the fact that the "city limits" are
defined in the Constitution itself.
They cannot be extended at will to
take in surrounding territory.
Question of Income Tax.
An illuminating commentary on the
nature Of Washington's population is
contained in the brief discussion of
the proposed local income tax by the
recent fiscal relations report. Many
States have adopted this form OF
taxation and it has been proposed
here as q substitute for the tax on
intangibles. To be effective as a
revenue raiser the tax must apply not
only to Federal employees. Who are
elsewhere EXEMPT from ,s,cal inconne
taxes, but to non-resi6@nts. The legal
dimculties which ..nght confront the
District, and ~flich have confronted
the States in the collection of income
taxes on non-residents, according to
the fiscal relations report, raise a
question which in the District is "of
peculiar importance because of the
large number Of persons employed in
the District who are domiciled outside
Its boundaries"
When one considers that under a