Evening star., 1937-04-26
YOUR TAXES
What You Would Pay and How Under
the Bills Proposed in the House.
Article No. 13--Pnblic Utility Tax.
Concluding article of Series.)
ESTIMATED YIELD-$e50 900 over present levy
PURPOSE To raise additional revenue
AFFECTS~-Fcur District utilities

the District auditor. Such board
would be required to meet on the third
Monday in April and stay in session
from day to day until May S, allowing
five days thereafter for a review or
correction in case of further contest
The taxes proposed in this bill
would be payable at the same time
as those on real estate generally. or
in September and March, or four
times year if the taxpayer applies
for such provision. The penalty for
delinquency would be the same, or
l per cent per month.
The bill provides that such taxes, if
unpaid, shall become lien against
all the property of the utilities con-
Germ, such lien to take precedence
over all demands, judgments, assign
mentS by warranty deed or other
wise, or DEGREES against such COM
panies. 1t provides that such liens
may be enforced by seizure or sale
OF the property, or such portion there
of as may be necessary to satisfy the
Districts claim. The Commissioners,
however, would be authorized to bring
suit in court for collection of the
claim in lieu of the other means.
Extra Help to Be Hired.
A feature of the bill is a provision
for the appropriation of $4,000, to
be Immediately available, for the en-
ployment of expert services for making
an initial survey and appraisal of the
properties of the utilities. The expert
employees could be hired without ref
erence to the restrictions of the civil
service act or the classification act.
The bill does not state specifically
just what existing taxes applied to the
utilities would be repealed, though it
is assumed it would mean the gross
earnings or the gross receipts taxes
snd the bus mileage tax. The bill
merely states, "All provisions of exist
ing law relating to the taxation of the
companies enumerated in this act and
all other acts, except as provided in
section 9 of this act are hereby re-
pealed." Section 9 provides that the
existing law for present taxes shall
remain in force until all taxes levied
hereunder are paid
Just how the experts who served the
sponsors of the bill arrived at a figure
of $950,000 for the expected increase
IN revenues, under the proposed bill,
has not been revealed.
Previous valuations and other
studies OF the utilities have indicated
that the total valuations of the four
concerns during the last year are
about $l52 100000. Assuming that
these valuations included about the
same properties which would be ap-
praised by the District assessor, the
resulting revenue from application Of
realty tax rate Of sl5O per s100
would be s2,280OOO.
On the other hand, the commissions
figures showed that during the last
calendar year these four corporations
paid 81 1893, 900 in gross earnings or
gross receipts taxes, plus $4,000 in
the bus mileage tax, or a total of ST.
485,000 Since it is to be provided
that these three taxes would be re-
pealed, then such revenues would be
wiped out, leaving but s795,O0O net
increase from the proposed new sys-
tenn.
Utilities Taxes Listed.
The grand total of taxes of all kinds
paid during the past calendar year by
the four corporations was found by
the commission to be s3,90O,O0O. OF
this total, s2,052,0O0 went to the Dis
trict government; $4,000 to Mary
land and sl,783,000 to the United
States.
Aside from the gross earnings or
gross receipts taxes, the companies
paid to the District the real estate
tax on land and buildings, the per-
sonal property tax, the gasoline tax,
the unemployment compensation tax
ana miscellaneous taxes, such as for
license plates, etc. Maryland took its
portion from taxes on real estate, the
county and town real and personal
levies, the bus mileage and seat mile
age tax, the gross earnings tax, the
gasoline tax, unemployment compen-
sation tax, natural gas line tax and
miscellaneous levies.
To the United States went payments
on the normal income and undis-
tributed profits taxes and on bond
interest paid at the source, the capital
stock tax, the social security tax, the
electric energy tax and miscellaneous
levles such as the excise tax.
The commissions computations
showed that the four companies, taken
together, paid out in taxes last year
in all nearly 10 per cent Of all their