Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1950-02-23

posed to expansion that the idea
was abandoned.
Persons who attended the meet
ing were the rank and file voters
plus the owners of large farm and
real estate properties adjacent to
the town. Also opposed to expan-
sion were certain political leaders.
No county politicoes attended,
since Rockville always has had
nonpartisan government and the
expansion would not in any way
affect county policy at that time.
The basic county tax rate would
apply both in Rockville and in the
proposed area of the expanded
Rockville.
The reasons put forth by the OPP
ponenas to the 1884 plans for ex-
pansion were essentially the fol-
lowing: (D Many persons on the
fringe, who enjoyed the sanitary
privileges of the town without pay
ing town taxes; ~ Persons in the
outlying area who feared high tax
rates. They were afraid that an
additional town tax rate might be
imposed on them to provide new
services. The citizens of old Rock
vile feared spending their tax
money for development of outlying
sections. IT
The whole thing boiled down to
this: The most effective sanction
for expansion is the providing of
sanitary utilities. Rockville was
fortunate in operating it's own
water and sewer plants. The juris-
diction of the Washington Subur-
ban Sanitary Commission did not
'axtend to the environs of Rockville.
Since the 1884 movement lost
primarily because it was not prop
erly planned, the town fathers be-
gan long-range plans to accom-
plish expansion. First, since some
200 users of the towns sanitary
facilities in the outlying areas did
not pay taxes, an ordinance was
enacted providing that any person
outside the corporation using the
water and sewer facilities would
pay the basic town tax rate. The
validity of this ordinance was later
sustained by the courts.
Secondly, the council enacted by
ordinance the requirement that no.
body outside Rockville could get
water or sewer service from the
Rockville city systems without
signing a pledge that he would, in
addition to all service charges, pay
the basic town tax rate. This
signed pledge became a part of the
deed record of the property involv-
ed. This ordinance required that
this signed pledge be made an
amendment to the deed record of
the property involved. This pro-
cedure was established about 1887
and has continued since that time.
In 1910 and 1941, several large
developers came in and took farm
land adjacent to Rockville. These
areas were served with the sani-
tary utilities of Rockville under
this plan. The FILA. which fin
anced these developments, insisted
upon an agreement that the newly
developed areas would be annexed
as soon as the General Assembly
could be persuaded to act. From
1910 to 1913, various areas were
brought in under these plans. Once
the deed record required outlying
property owners to pay taxes at
the regular tax rate for water and
sewer alone, these property owners
began to see the desirability of
complete annexation since, as citi-
zens of the Incorporated town, they
might get other benefits such as
streets, street maintenance, and
street lights, that were provided
for areas within the corporate
limits.
This program of denial of the
advantages of incorporation to the
outlying districts did not extend
to the fire fighting function, since
fire protection in Rockville is pro-
vided by an independent company
that has no definite connection
with the city government.
In December, 1913, the Mayor