Evening star., 1951-09-19
bi|IPermitsU. 5.
ToBuy Buildings
On Insta||ments
Senate Group Backs
Rent Payment Plan
To Acquire Property
By Harold B. Roqers

BY Harold B. Rogers
Something new in Government
operations has been recommended
20 the Senate by it's Expenditures
Committee in the form Of legis-
alton to set up a system for buy
ng property on the installment
plan throughout the country, in
Guiding the District.
Rent payments would apply to
the purchase price of real estate
under the bill, increasing the pres
ent one-year limitation on leases
in the District, and five years in
the rest of the country.
The measure. approved yester-
day by the Expenditures Commit
tee and reported to the Senate for
would raise the present re-
strictions on leases to a minimum
of eight years and a maximum of
25 years.
Consider Decentralization.
Meanwhile. the committee also
considered at length in its closed
session the controversial bill to
decentralize $4,000 Government
to places distant from
Washington. No final agreement
was reached on this measure. it
was learned. as some problems
arose as to the exact distance
from Washington to be written
into the bill.
The decentralization measure Is
slated to be considered again next
week by the expenditures group.
A report on the lease-purchase
bill. filed with the Senate by
Chairman McClelland of the Ex-
penditures Committee. declares
that the new procedure would be
a constructive step toward i'm
proving the procurement program
of the Government in providing
permanent Office and warehouse
facilities for Federal agencies
throughout the country"
Imposes Restrictions.
Hedged about with certain
to assure a sound
procedure. the new plan, accord
ing to the McClelland report,
would provide sound and con-
tinuing basis for the realization
of economies in Government in
its property management program
and a further important step to-
ward promoting more efficiency in
Government operations"
Under the bill, Senator Nc
Clelland told the Senate, the
Government would be authorized
to apply funds appropriated for
rent payments toward the liquida-
ton Of such lease-purchase con-
tracts under the existing Is per
cent per year rent limitation,
based on the fair market value Of
the property at the time the agree
ment was signed.
"The title" he explained. would
vest in the Government after the
expiration of the designated lease
period, with the rental paid, in
cluding interest. taxes, etc.. con-
stituting the total purchase price"
GSA Determines Value.
The fair market value would be
determined by the General Serv-
ices Administration, which would
be authorized to handle the en-
tire program.
The procedure would open up
an entire new system of renting
property in Washington for Fed
eral purposes.
With the constant growth Of
the Government, Senator Nc
Clelland told the Senate, "addi-
tional space for it's permanent ac-
tivities is presently required both
within and outside of the seat of
Government, and all indications
point to progressive increase of
such requirements in the future"
Referring to the Government
of entering into short
term leases for privately owned
property, the report declares the
result has been that the Govern
ment. "in many cases, has rented
the same buildings from year to
year for periods as long as 40 or
oO years, paying the real value of
the property over and over again."
Approval by Committees.
one restriction applied to the
lease-purchase agreements au-
thorized by the bill would provide
that no Federal agency could
f1nally sign such a contract unless
it was first approved by both the
Senate and House Committees on
expenditures in the executive de-
partments.
To make this kind of approval
more convenient, it has been con-
sidered that some kind of a Joint
subcommittee could be set up to
consists OF members of both the
Senate and House expenditures
groups.
If the agency wanted to con-
tract for an annual payment of
more than Is per cent of the ap-
praised fair market value of the
property. the agency would have
to come to Congress for an ap-
preparation specifically for that
project. Otherwise already appro-
priated rent money could be used
for the annual payment.
The GSA administrator would
be empowered to enter into op-
lions under a 120-day limitation.
pending approval or disapprovai
oy the congressional committees.
human Ride Ennd h.,