Evening star., 1941-11-02
Property Worth
S9o0,o00p|aced
On Tax Rolls
Georgetown Hospital
Ordered Removed
From Exempt List

tinued their drive to return to the
municipal real estate tax rolls prop
critics deemed beyond the meaning
and wording Of the tax exemption
statutes, ordering holdings valued
at more than 100000 placed on
the tax rolls.
OF outstanding importance was
the property of the Georgetown Hos
pital, nurses home, laundry and
morgue, owned by Georgetown Col
lege, which has been exempt for
more than a half century and now
having an assessed value OF more
than $4,000, but which was found
by the District Commissioners as not
being a purely public charity"
In action on IS cases, the Com
missioners approved reports from
their Real Estate Tax Exemption
Board, headed by Walter L. Fowler,
District budget director and former
assistant corporation counsel, call
ing for assessments against % prop
critics and approving exemption for
% others.
Excess Holdings Alleged.
Fifteen Of the % properties Or
dered taxed were church holdings
and in about half Of these cases
the reason was that the church Or
ganizations were holding excess"
land beyond requirements Of their
institutions.
In addition to the Georgetown
Hospital case. the city heads ordered
whole or part levies against others,
including the District tuberculosis
Associati ton, the Walsh mansion used
by the Red Cross and the Civic The
ater, Friendship House and one
piece of property held by the Sal
vation Army.
In the Georgetown Hospital case,
the board and the Commissioners
agreed:
1T is apparent that great deal
of charitable work is being done by
this very splendid organization, but
We cannot conclude that this is a
purely public charity within the
meaning OF the existing statute.
The distinction is made in some
States between the units which are
used for charitable purposes and
those which are used for income
producing purposes. The courts
hold, however, that the proportion
of the profit which is used toward
the support Of the charity in tnis
case is not sufficient TO serve as the
distinction.
Legislation to clarity this situ-
alton may produce proper formula
for determining the portion to be
exempt"
Pending such An ALLEGATION, how
ever. the board and the city heads
ruled the entire property must be
placed in the taxable class.
tuberculosis Association.
The District tuberculosis AsSocia-
ton, recently granted permission by
the Board Of Zoning Adjustment to
occupy buildings at 1901 New Hamp-
shire avenue NV. having an as
sessed value of $24.432, lost an ap-
peal to have the property placed in
the tax exemption list The city
heads decided it was not school
where general subjects were taught,
and that though its work was laud-
able, the property should be taxed.
The Walsh home at 2O2O Massa-
chusetts avenue, having an assessed
value of nearly a quarter million
dollars. and used jointly by the Red
Cross and the Washington Civic
Theater. will be subject to an an
nual tax bill of s3.924.
Otto S. Lund of the District Chap
ter of the Red Cross advised the
exemption board there was no
agreement between the chapter and
Mrs. Evalyn Walsh Mclean for the
payment of taxes and that the
building was occupied free, the ex-
penses of heat. light and janitor
service being shared by the two Or
ganizations using the premises.
The American Security e. Trust
Co., trustee under the will of Carrie
B. Walsh, sought tax exemption on
September II. reporting it was ex-
pected the Red Cross and the Flint
nish Relief Society would use the
property during the emergency. The
Commissioners ruled the property
does not belong to an institution OF
purely public charity.
Friendship House.
Friendship House. 6l8-632 South
Carolina avenue Sc and 619-633 D
street Sc, having a total assessed
value of $92.7l8, will be given a par
tlal tax assessment, in recognition
OF its charitable work, under ruling
by the city heads that it was not in
all respects a purely public charity
The case was referred to the Dis
trict assessor for an ALLEGATION rec
Ommen0ation. Some staff workers
live on the premises and in some
cases fees are charged for its serv-
ices, the Commissioners found.
One Of two buildings operated by
the Catholic Home for Aged Ladies
Inc, at 3033 and 3043 P street NV,
was ordered taxed. This is the St.
Margaret Mary House, at 3033 p
street. having an assessed value OF
$20,312, which is occupied by paying
guests. The other house receives no
income from its guests and is prop
erly exempted, the board ruled
Following precedents set in earlier
cases, the Commissioners ordered
back onto the tax rolls the realty
holdings of another national organ
ization, the American Association to
Promote the Teaching of Speech to
tho nAaf with pronertv at 1527