Evening star., 1937-01-31
TAX COLLECTION
REFORM DUE FOR
STUDY THIS WEEK
Delinquency Committee to
Climax Months of
Consideration.
CITY HEADS WILL GET
PROPOSALS THURSDAY
Disagreement Arises Over Plan to
Break D. C. Partnership
With Brokers.
BY DON S. WARREN.

d DON D. "hnnENs
Sweeping reforms in the Districts
tax billing and collection machinery
are to be considered finally this week
by the Commissioners Tax Deliquency
Committee as a climax to months Of
study.
Several radical changes in methods
may be included in recommendations
to be submitted to the Commissioners
following a meeting Of the group
Thursday. Among these may be the
proposed attachment of bank accounts
as q direct means of forcing payment
Of delinquent personal property taxes,
and creation of a central billing sys-
TEN. where all tax bills would be kept
current on q master file.
Disagreement has arisen in the COM
mittee, however. over another major
proposal. that the District promptly
break its partnership with the profess
sional tax brokers. who for years have
been an effective force In collection of
overdue realty taxes-but painful to
the property owner.
nVACIS GilIuIhtaSIVu
There is general agreement that the
tax broker should be barred from his
practice Of buying tax certificates
when property owners fail to pay
levies on time, and then forcing them
to pay high price to keep the broker
from dispossessing them of the prop
erty after two years. There is sharp
dico 70 MI, hn k,rn
should be thrown out Of the picture.
Some committee members fear the
District would be left without an
effective weapon to force payment Of
realty taxes If the broker is too sud-
denly eliminated. Others question
the loss.
Meanwhile. the work Of the COM
mittee of four District officials and
four civic representatives has brought
to light evidence tending to show
there have been leaks of information
from the District Building to tax
brokers as to when to file application
for q deed from the Commissioners
for desirable properties on which
taxes have been delinquent for two
years. 49,
Tax Assessor Fred b. Allen now is .
investigating in the hope of finding
the leaks. These rumors have ap-
peared before. and to protect prop
erty owners the District has been
notifying them when their taxes are
two years overdue and when they may
lose title.
The tax collection inquiry was in
stituted last Spring after two men,
bers of the House criticized the prac-
tice of permitting professional in
vestors to "gouge" delinquent tax
payers.
Properties Advertised in January.
Each January the District adver-
tises q long list of properties for the
tax deed sale. Professional brokers
buy tax liens on such properties by
paying the due taxes and penalties.
They are permitted by law to charge
the owner interest at the rate of IL
per cent per year. After two years
they may apply to the District for
title to the property, if the owner
continues to default. The brokers are
then IN a position to exact as high
q penalty from the property owner
as they can get, to prevent their
actual taking of the property.
Fear that elimination of the
broker may deprive the District of
an effective weapon to force realty
tax payments from delinquents Is
based on an involved story, running
briefly as follows:
For years the District had on its
statute law permitting the city gov.
ernment to apply to the courts for
actual auction sale Of properties when
taxes were more than two years over |
due. This has never been done, how
ever. The commissioners legal ad-
Nsers in the past decided the method
was too costly and too cumbersome
because the law required that all
parties of interest, as we'll as the
owner Of record, must be notified
individually of the impending sale.
Because of this situation, Congress
last March enacted an amendment
TO the law, the Phipps act, 70 make
newspaper publication ample notice
to parties interested in the auction.
That seemed to clear the way for
action, but did not. District Of
ncials were advised that title COM
panies would not pass title on prop
critics so auctioned until the courts
had tested and upheld the Phipps
act amendment.
(See TAXES, Page B-2)