Evening star., 1948-06-13

A case against increasing the Dis
trict's real and personal property
tax rate as a source of additional
revenue was outlined by Assessor
Edward A. Dent in a recent re-
port to Congressional committees.
The report, filed in support of the
proposed combination sales tax and
high-bracket income levy, was re-
leased yesterday by Chairman Bates
of the House District Fiscal Sub
committe at the request of The
Star
In this statement, Mr. Dent de-
fends the ratio of District assess
ments to fair market value, warns
that an increase in realty taxes
would speed up the movement OF
business concerns to surrounding
counties where such taxes are lower,
and predicts that heavier property
taxes would result in further rent
increases.
Text of Statement.
Mr.. Dents statement follows:
LAS you know, a comparison OF
tax rates in various cities Is ex-
tremely difhcult unless the basis OF
of assessment is known.
I'm some cities, as in Washington,
D. c., the law requires that property
shall be assessed at full and true
value; whereas in other cities, in
accordance with law, assessments
are based on various percentages
below full value. This Office has
been informed by various assessing
authorities throughout the country
:. that. it is almost impossible to de-
termine (for the entire city, the ac-
tual ratio of assessed valuation to
the legal requirement unless each
individual piece of property is ana
lyzed. In the first place, the matter
of full and true value, which is re-
quired by the Districts statute, is
a matter of judgment on the part
OF the assessing authorities.
TT is generally conceded that
present inflated selling prices of
real estate are in excess of true
value" Financial institutions in the
District of Columbia do not recog-
nize, in a large number of cases,
present selling prices for the pur-
pose of making loans on property.
Loans are predicated on appraisals
made by their appraisal committees,
and I have personal knowledge that
these appraisals are somewhat be-
low present selling prices.
The Municipal Year Book pub
hshed by the International City
Managers Association discloses
some very interesting information in
regard to assessed valuations and
tax rates in various cities throughout
the United States.
To illustrate the difficulty in COM
pairing assessed valuations, I invite
your attention to certain informa-
tion that I have obtained from
these yearly publications: Buffalo,
N. Y. increased its ratio of assessed
valuation to full value from 84Po in
1910 to 92qo in 1945, yet showed a
decrease in the total assessed valua-
ton of $l37, 100000; Pittsburgh, Pa.
increased from 800 in 1910 to 1907
in 1945 but showed a decrease Of
1923 900 900 in assessed valuation;
q Cleveland, Ohio, from 300 in 1910
to 1907 in 1945 but showed a de-
crease of 1921 100000 in assessed
valuation; st. Louis, Mo, from IS co
in 1910 to 1907 in 1945 but showed
a decrease of SIT ,oO0. 900 in assessed
valuation; Boston, Mass. had the
same ratio in 1910 as in 1945, which
was 1907, but showed a decrease of
$4,000, 900 in assessed valuation: the
same was true of Milwaukee, Wis
consin, on 900 basis for both years
but showed decrease Of $4,000 600.
Other Cities Are Cited.
''In the population group between
100000 and 100000, in which the
District Of Columbia and the cities
cited above are grouped, only the
cities of Baltimore, Md, and the
District showed an increase in the
assessed valuation between 1910 and
1945, these increases being s6S,O0OOOO
and $108, 8,000, 900, respectively.
1T does not seem reasonable or
consistent that city having an in
crease in its ratio of assessed valu-
alton to full value should have a
reduction in it's total assessed valu-
alton. I cite these cases in order
to show the difficulty in comparing
assessment bases which must be
accurately determined in order to
tntelligently compare tax rates.
The Municipal Year Book shows
that in 1945 the District of Columbia
had the highest total assessed valu-
alton of any city in the population
group between 100000 and 100000,
in spite of the fact that only SO
per cent of the area of the District
of Columbia was subject to taxation
in that year. Since 1945 the taxable
area has further increased to 489
per cent and the total assessment
has increased by $19l 100000 due
largely to the blanket increase in
valuations made last year
In a list of 38 cities having
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