The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-10-05
URGES CITIES
 BAR WASTEIN
 SUBDIVISIONS

ohlcago, oct B.-tuP)-Unless local governments take immediate steps to control development Of sub- division property within and wlth- out city limits, there will be Q repe. tltion Of the defaults, delinquent cieB and waste of public money on unneeded public Improvements in postwar expansion, tho Municipal Finance OfflcerB' Assn, reported,
 Excessive Bubdlvldlng Of lend, and the Improvements built by municipalities for the benefit of subdivisions between 1920 and 1929, were primary cause, of financial troubles Of large and small cities and suburban areas In the ie2D.SB period, and at several earlier per. iodb, the association said,
 Municipalities have Q stake ln these Improvements beeauSe-they are called upon to finance most of them, there arc now available in- side most city limits satisfactory building lots with oil or some public improvements; construction outside city limits will tend further to de- crease local population and assessed valuation Of property inside the city,
 Cities Vacant Lots
 Flint, Mich, tho association said, is on example of oveFdeVelopment, In 1898 this city of ibi,000 had 28,B20 vacant lots, of which i2,9b7 were 80 long tax delinquent that the state was selling them, Of tho vacant lots, iO70i had sewer and water facilities,
 Suffering from excessive delin. queney, tho city defaulted on it's debts and the citizens at large were forced to guarantee payment of the special assessment debt, Between 1880 and l040, Flint's population de- creased from ib0,402 to ibi ,b43, but tho population in tho metropolitan area outside the city increased from 23,447 to 37,0ii,
 Another example is Homoweod, Alap Q suburb Of Birmingham, with Q population Of 7307, Of lots in the city, 9,27i have residents on them and 3,i74 are vacant,
 Detroit Tax Sales
 A survey of B townships in tho Detroit metropolitan area, exclusive of the city, was made in 1888, Tn the surveyed area, there were 800, ,78B iotB subdivided, of which 904,084 were sold for delinquent taxes Rt the iD3o tax sale, Tax delinquency in subdivisions of the i3 townships amounted to S04,i7i, i,8i3,
 In Westehester county, N, Y,, in 1884 there were 00,9O0 parcels Of delinquent property, of which 4S,. i9i were vacant, Of the total, 23,. COS were in unineorpoFated areas, 0,be0 in the 24 villages, and lB,460 In ths three cities of the county, Thus 90 per cent of the delinquent parcels were Vaeap properties rep. resembling b9 pc reent Of the total delinquent taxes,
 In order to preserve credit of municipalities, prevent unWiso in. veBtment of public money in un. necessary improvements and to protect builders of small homes, the association recommends
 Improvements Before Sale
 i--Munidlpalities and rural areas should foFeelose now al properties with accumulated tax dellnquencles, such properties to be held for guld. anee of future growth and pFeVens ton Of unnecessary Investment in improvements,
 2-Require oil subdivlderS to re. cord plots and install oil necessary public improvements before the plots are accepted and lots offered for Bfke,
 3-All plots approved by plan. ming authorities with power to pro. teet the public interest,
 4-Munieipal authority to con. trol subdivision and building with in Q reasonable distance outside tho city limits, subject to state Soning laws,
 b-oreparation of construction Of undesirable homes in suburban and rural areas by state building code requiring minimum stand" ards where municipal codes are not effective.
 8-When an area requests special Improvements, the city should eX. anime the tax records to determine wehther the property to be assessed has c history of tax payments which indicates 1t is willing and able to pay new special assessments,