Evening star., 1955-01-21
Counties COT
Bargain, Hoyf
Says Of Report
Advice Con Poy Cost
Many Times He Tells
Maryland Officials
BY George Beveridse

By George Beyeridge
DR.. Homer Hoyt feels the
$4,000 economic growth study
he made for Montgomery and
Prince Georges Counties was q
bargain that would pay for itself
many times over" If the coun.
ties will only heed the reports
lessons"
He made the statement-in no
uncertain terms-to the Mont
gomery County Council, the
Prince Georges County Commis-
sioners and the Maryland-Na-
tional Capital Park and Planning
c Commission. at a dinner-meeting
called last night to hear a review
of the report and decide whether
to officially accept it.
Details of the study. which
predicted a bright future for the
two counties and laid down guide
lines for the development of land
for specific uses. were disclosed
exclusively in The Star last
November %.
The three groups indicated last
night they will vote individually.
within the next week, to accept
the report officially. then send it
of to a printer. They also tenta-
lively agreed to sell. at $3.50 q
copy, all but 100 of the $500
copies to be printed. The print
ing will take about month.
$4,000 Already Paid.
Actually, the groups paid DR..
Hoyt last October the $40. 900 for
the study he began June. 1858.
At that time, there was some
criticism of the time the sur
vey was taking. And a COM
mittee representing the three
groups said, in an open letter.
that while DR.. Hoyt omitted g
few points called for in his con-
tract. he added others he felt
more than offset them,
Before the groups got around
to questioning the land econo-
mist last night. Or. Hoyt made
1t plain he felt they were get-
ting a bargain.
He said the report, the most
comprehensive Of its kind he
had ever seen. went far beyond
the requirements Of his contract
so far that II didn't get q
cent out of the fee."
Asked by a reporter what the
study actually cost him, DR..
Hoyt said he didn't have a firm
figure. But the $40, 900, did not
pay the salaries of employees on
the job" he added.
Best at Any Price.
To the three groups. he de-
clared:
IF you had paid me 500. 900.
the report wouldn't have been
any better-it could have been
worse. Because then I would
have had a lot of people sitting
around conferring.
IT know. because I've done
jobs for Government agencies"
DR.. Hoyt said one of the un-
ordered jobs he did, requiring
immense work." was to figure
assessed values Of each type Of
property in each county. Others
included detailed maps which
he exhibited.
Asked to what practical pur-
pose" the report data should be
put, DR.. Hoyt said one of the
most important was to show. in
specific terms. the uses to which
land should be put to yield sur
plus tax revenues.
Stresses Certain Enterprises.
He stressed that regional shop
ping centers and attractive types
Of light industry, for example,
always yield taxes In excess Of
the cost of county services. He
also listed "break-even points"
In home costs, below which sery-
ice costs. such as schools and
streets. exceed tax revenues.
In employment and population
growth estimates, DR.. Hoyt gave
breakdowns in the report for
1860. 1870 and 1880. Mrs. Stella
B. Werner. Montgomery County
Council secretary, asked If there
was any way to break the esti-
mates down into one or two year
projections.
DR.. Hoyt said his report con-
tanned formulas to permit this.
He also urged the counties TO
keep his factual data up-to-date
on an annual basis and to
change future projections II new
factors warrant IT..
Action Of Formal Meetings.
The three groups laison COM
mittee proposed a resolution call
ing for adoption OF the report,
and acceptance Of a $3.50 con-
tract for the printing job. But
the county governing bodies said
they would have to act In formal
session.
The Prince Georges leaders
said they would meet tomorrow
morning. The Montgomery coun-
Gil win meet next Monday or
Tuesday. The planners win get
together within week.
OF $1,000 the three groups
have authorized to pay for
printing. s2.70o already has been
spent for printing color maps.
The Liaison Committee proposed
that the three groups put up
between them an additional
$3.50 70 meet the printing bin.
It suggested that the $6,250 to
be raised by selling report copies
be set aside for printing addi-
tional copies at q future
time"
The meeting was held In the
planning commissions Calvert
Mansion headquarters in River