Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1947-03-19
DC. Realty Tax
Po|icyDefended
By Assessor
Compares FovorobIy
With Other Big Cities,
Dent Testifies
By Don S. Warren

TAX Assessor EDWARD A. Dent
today staunchly defended Dis
trict real estate assessments and
taxes, telling the House-Senate
Joint Fiscal Subcommittee they
compare most favorably with
those of other large cities.
Most of the morning session OF
the second day of hearings on the
city's revenue problems was devoted
to realty revenues. The Commits
sioners, in recommending $4,000, 600
in additional taxes, have proposed
to leave unchanged the District S
present realty tax rate.
Mr.. Dent, who won favorable re-
actions from the joint committee
gave testimony showing:
/. That Washington was found
at the top of list of cities having
populations of 100000 to 1,000,0 OC
as to actual assessed valuations for
residential, apartment and business
properties.
2. That on per capita basis
Washington ranks second in a list
of 80 cities, being topped only by
New York City. This study included
cities having populations of 100000
or more. The per capita actual
assessment figures showed New York
with $1,000 and Washington second
with $1,827. st. Paul was last with
a per capita actual assessment figure
Of 1882.
8. Actual real estate taxes COL
lected on identical" properties here
and in nearby Maryland and Vir-
GINA show the District taxes are
considerably higher than those in
Arlington County, and slightly
higher than in Montgomery and
Prince Georges Counties.
63 Pet. of Inflated Prices.
Assessor Dent submitted a study
on 200 property assessments taken
at random which showed the total
actual assessments for this year
amount to So per cent of the pres
ent actual but inflated" selling
prices. Mr.. Dent declared prices
now being paid for residential prop
critics "are inflated to ridiculous
level" because of the acute shortage
of housing, and that assessors
should not jump present assess
ments to such inflated levels.
Representative Bates, Republican,
of Massachusetts,, chairman of the
Fiscal Subcommittee of the House
District Committee, who was pre-
siding, broke into indorse this stand.
I agree assessors ought not to
place inflated values in their assess
ments in these abnormal times" Mr..
Bates said. eff they did, then in
some later period of recession in
values, the assessor would have to
make heavy reductions in assess
Comparisons Inaccurate.
The assessor emphasized that
merely to compare tax rates between
cities gives no proper picture of the
measure of actual real estate taxes.
He made this clear in reporting
studies of taxes paid on comparable
properties here and in other places,
where the tax rate Is much higher
than in Washington, but where the
ratio of assessment to true value is
far below 100 per cent.
Arlington County, he said, has a
real estate tax rate of SO per 500
of value, and system of making
realty assessments amount to 40 per
cent of true value. This means in
effect, he said, that Arlington has
a $1.20 tax rate if assessments are
treated on the 100 per cent basis.
Montgomery County has a $3.50
realty tax rate, and is supposed
to be on 100 per cent true value
assessment, he added. The studies
made by his assistants of 'identi-
cal" houses, however, he continued
showed the taxes paid are lower in
Montgomery County than in the
District.
The assessor explained there was
no known method for making exact
comparisons in such cases, that to
some degree it depended on the