Browning chief., 1947-05-23
Federally.0wned Land Yields
Little Local Tax Revenue

Iiiot tilS lSuSl dl government Ids Idh-
en- over valuable properties in every
state in the union. In hundreds Of
cases the government has forced To-
cal communities to assume in
equitable tax burdens as a conse-
quence Of taking this property off
the local tax duplicates.
The two bills set up commission
of seven members to determine and
pay to state and local governmental
units contributions in lieu of taxes
on real property taken over by the
government. Sen. Hugh Butler Of
Nebraska is sponsor Of the measure
in the senate, while Rep. Claire
Engle Of California is author in tho
house.
The measures represent several
years Of organization and pressure
brought about by the National Asso-
citation Of County Officials, which has
an office here in Washington, and is
representative of the various elect
ed county officials in 40 states.
At the present time there are ap-
proximately 40 separate laws which
provide various methods, amounts
and percentages of federal payments
to state and local units of govern
ment in lieu of taxes on lands taken
over by the federal government. In
many cases, however, particularly
during the war years when govern
ment exercised the power of emf
nent domain and took over thou
sands of acres of lands, including
high priced agricultural lands in ru-
raj areas and equally desirable and
high cost industrial sites in cities,
absolutely no taxes or money in lieu
of taxes is being collected on these
lands.
Serious Problem in West
The rapid growth of government
ownership of lands, particularly in
the western states, has led various
organizations, including the U. S.
chamber of commerce, to protest.
For instance the federal govern
ment owns 81 per cent of the total
land of Nevada, 70 per cent Of Utah
and 70 per cent of Arizona. The gov
ernment owns 46 million of the 100
million acres of land in California,
and these figures in varying per-
centages apply to all the western
states. But even in eastern states
government ownership of land has
increased in the past several years.
The government owns IL per cent
of New Hampshire, 7 per cent Of
Michigan, per cent of North Caro-
lima and various smaller percent
ages in all other states.
Tn RaJfirnora xtI,ora fha hytUa
Glenn Martin airplane factory op-
crates, the local unit of government
is collecting no taxes on this highly
valuable industrial plant, compris-
ing many acres. 1t is owned by
the army and operated under lease
by Glenn Martin company. There are
similar situations in many cities.
AS one instance, the navy built
tremendous supply depot south Of
Ogden, Utah. 1t acquired hundreds
of acres of the best truck and farm
land. This land was taken off the
tax duplicates and revenue of the
county government diminished. On
the other hand, construction of the
depot required increased activity on
the part of the county. New schools
were needed for children of the en-
ployees of the naval depot, addi-
tional policing was required, costs
of highway maintenance rose rapid
ly, so this acquisition by the fed
eral government reduced the county
tax revenue and at the same time
increased county costs.
Redress LaUs Chaotic
The National Association of Coun-
ty Officials regards the issue as one
of the most serious problems con-
fronting local governments, because
it goes directly to the heart of the
maintenance of local government.
Under the present code of 40 laws
which attempts to make some rep
aration for this federal acquisition Of
real property, there is no regularity
of amounts or times for payments.
Formulas are calculated in each
case. Thus it is difficult or impos-
sible for county governments to bud
get these items.
The Butler bill, $50, and the
Engle bill, HR 2725, represent an at
tempt to bring some order into the
picture and set up policy of Sys-
tematic and regular payments.
These regular payments shall in
no case be in excess of the tax reve-
nue. the property would produce if
privately owned. State and local
governmental units are to be paid
for all property owned by the fed
eral government with exception Of
courthouses, customhOuses, mints,
postoffices, hospitals and other like
properties which are specifically eX-
cluded from provisions of the bill.
1t likely will be expensive but
probably no more so than the in
creased taxes occasioned by taking
duplicates at the local level.