Evening star., 1947-11-04
NewLaw Asked
On Montgomery
/
Reassessments
Maryland Legislative
Council Backs Bills
For Prince Georges

Legislation providing for reassess-
ment Of property Immediately after
1t is rezoned will be introduced at
the special session of the Maryland
General Assembly by the Montgom-
cry County Delegation, it was an
nounced today. The Legislature
will convene in Annapolis tomor-
row.
Meanwhile, it was disclosed that
the delegation decided last night
against proposing legislation giving
the county commissioners any addi-
tional taxing powers, while in Balti-
more the State Legislative Council
approved several bills for Prince
Georges.
Directed at Idle Land.
According to Anders r. Lofstrand.
jr., the Montgomery delegation
chairman, the reasSessment bill was
recommended by the county COM
missioners to prevent rezoned land
from lying idle.
Under present law, he explained,
county property is reassessed every
five years. AS a result, he said,
many persons have had residential
property rezoned for commercial
use but have paid no additional
taxes on it, nor have they taken
advantage of the rezoning.
The delegation met with Walter
w. Dawson, chairman of the Re-
publican State Central Committee
for the county, to review bills which
the group plans to introduce.
Tax Position Reversed.
Gov. Lane announced several
weeks ago that he would support a
bill giving counties and municipal
tiles special taxing powers. At a
meeting of the Legislative Council
in Baltimore yesterday, Delegate
Lofstrand said Montgomery needed
taxing power to offset Increased
costs of government, but the delega-
ton reversed the position last night.
Before the Legislative Council. At
torney General Hall Hammond in
terposed a personal objection to the
principle of special taxing powers,
the Associated Press reported. Mr..
Hammond resides in Baltimore
County, which also favored the bill
before the council.
IT am convinced" Mr.. Hammond
said, that to grant these poWers
at this time would be most unfor-
t,1r 70 ryio1Iinn fn nvpndinnnHJ writ h
serious consequences to the chance,
now foreseeable, of obtaining an in
telligent, co-ordinated and planned
tax system for the whole State, in
conjunction with the rest of the
country"
Mr. Hammond mentioned the
studies of various governmental and
other agencies on tax uniformity,
adding that the plan advanced by
the recent Governors conference
alone would mean Maryland would
be relieved of $1O0.000000 annually
it now pays in Federal taxes of one
kind or another.
Prince Georges Measures.
The Legislative Council also placed
on the special session agenda a half
dozen emergency" bills covering
Prince Georges County. They in
cluded measures:
To allow the county commission
ers to spend such funds as deemed
necessary to- feed county prisoners.
Senator L. Harold Sothoron, Demo-
crat, of Prince Georges said the sit
uation here is desperate" since the
contract for feeding has expired and
the county can find no one willing
to take it on at the fixed rate of so
cents per prisoner per day.
To allow Berwyn to increase its
tax rate by 25 cents on the $100 in
order to meet current operating ex-
penses.
To allow Edmonston to borrow
funds for streets already contracted
for. In a bill passed last winter a
line giving the authority was mad
vertently dropped.
To allow the town of Riverdale to
float a $25 900 bond issue for storm
sewer and alleviate a sanitary prob
lem created by a creek which flows
through the town.
To allow the county to issue $780,
600 in notes to buy equipment for
maintenance of county roads.
Bill to Condemn Lots.
A bill to allow the University of
Maryland to condemn lots on which
it already has built CT living quar-
ters also was put on the legislative
agenda.
Attorney General Hall Hammond
told the Legislative Council that
when the buildings were erected, it
was thought they all were on prop
erty owned by the university. 1t
developed, he said, the institution
did not own them.
He said similar property had been
sold for about $500, but the owner
was asking $4,000 for the two and
it had been impossible to reach an
orroay,oo,,f