Evening star., 1939-05-07
0verton Urges
Speed in School
Building Plans
Sees Difficulty if D. c.
Is Held to S., 900, 900
Lump Sum
BY ]. A. O'LEARY.

BY ]. A. O'LEARY.
Speeding up of the municipal
building program to replace anti
quated structures, especially public
schools, was urged last night by
Chairman Overton of the Senate
Subcommittee on District Appropri-
ations, as he prepared to resume
hearings tomorrow morning on the
1910 local supply bill.
The Louisiana Senator added,
however, that it would be difficult
for Washington to set out to accom-
plish these improvements If the
Federal share Of the cost Of main
tanning the Capital is to be held
down to the present $4,000, 900 an
nual lump sum.
The Senator made it clear he was
expressing only his personal view
and not attempting to indicate what
the subcommittee may decide, either
as to the number of construction
items or the Federal payment.
Pride in Capital.
1.-THE whole Nation takes pride In
the National Capital" he said, "and
there are a number of eye-sores
that should be replaced. For ex-
ample, there are many of the old,
eight-room school buildings, erected
years ago, that are obsolete and ex-
pensive to maintain.
IT would like to see the building
program speeded up, but in doing so
the Nation should feel an obligation
to meet some part of the added cost,
in view of the fact that part OF
the need grows out of the fact that
this is the Capital"
The Senator pointed out that the
school population of Washington is
increased by the children of tempo
rary residents, whose official duties,
either in Congress or in Government
departments, call them to Washing
ton.
Found Replacement Impossible.
The subcommittee chairman, who
has not yet reached testimony on
the school budget, recalled that in
recent years the need for new school
buildings in outlying areas has made
1t impossible to go forward with the
replacement of obsolete buildings in
the older sections of the city.
The House bill allowed the budget
estimate of $1,50O,0OO, and $4,000
additional for new school construc-
zion and purchase of sites. This,
however. covers only four projects,
and they are either for completing
buildings already authorized, or for
enlarging existing schools.
DR.. Frank w. Ballou, superintend-
ent of schools, testified at the House
hearings that "a serious aspect of
the school situation is the lack of
proper accommodations" He called
attention to a large number of
buildings from so to 60 years old,
which, he said. are expensive to
maintain and are not efficient.
Question of Economy.
Declaring that an eight-room
building no longer is regarded as
suitable for elementary school pur-
poses, DR.. Ballou suggested it would
be more economical to group these
classes in larger units, where the
heat, light and overhead would be
less expensive. 1t was brought out
in the House hearings that in re-
placing these old buildings with
larger units. the number of schools
could be reduced from 174 to $50.
1t is apparent, however, from the
Districts prospective balance sheet,
as the bill now stands, that any
substantial Senatesincrease for new
construction projects would entail
heavy new local taxes, unless some
increase is made in the Federal pay
ment.
If the new local tax program that
has been under discussion in House
committee does not go through and
the business privilege tax expires
with this fiscal year, even a con-
tinuation of the present $1.75 rate
on real estate would leave an esti-
mated deficit of $185 900 under the
House bill.
Moved to Settle Controversy.
At the outset of the present ses-
sion Senator Overton launched q
move to settle the controversy over
the Federal obligation toward up
keep and development of the Capital
by abandoning the practice of lump
sum payments, and returning to a
definite formula. He proposed that
the Federal share be based on the
percentage of the land acreage of
the District required for national
purposes, and that this percentage
be applied to the general fund ex-
penses. which would still leave the
District meeting the full cost of the
highway and water services through
motor vehicle taxes and water rents,
Under this formula the Federal
share for the coming year would be
$8,O00,000. The Overton proposal
however, Is embodied in a separate
bill, which is awaiting action by the
Senate District Committee. This
committee deals with new lepisla-
tion, entirely apart from appropria-
lions.