Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-03-22
.bendheinl Plan
Is Questioned
In Alexandra
Merchants Against
Higher Assessment
On Reel Estute

Its most essential provision,
which calls for doubling the
real estate assessments and cut
ting the real estate tax in half
to increase the city's borrowing
power. does not have the back
ing of the merchants.
His other points. however.
appear to have support, but at
least one Of them-his call for
an urban renewal program
worth millions of dollars
probably could not be accom-
plished If the assessment ma
neuver is not approved.
Cost Sparks Opposition
AS might have been ex-
pected. opposition centered
around the price tag.
Speaking at political gath
ering Wednesday night. Mayor
Bendheim warned some rs store
owners that, If something isn't
done in the next three years to
attract new business. king
street will be a ghost town"
The customer situation is
sufficiently bad, he said.
IF you don't do something
soon. you might just as well
look for locations elsewhere in
Northern Virginia"
Among those present were
the IA candidates. including
three incumbents. running for
six seats on the City Council
in the April / Democratic
primary. The meeting was
arranged by the Retail Mer-
chants Association so the city's
merchants could hear the candi-
dates views on what should be
done to recapture the diSap-
Ipearing shopper.
Six-Point Plan
When the others were
through, the mayor. unopposed
for denomination, offered his
Isix-point plan.
He warned the merchants his
program will cost lots of
money" but "it's a matter of
your life or your DEATH"
He explained the assessment
plan this way:
Since the limit on Alex
andria'S bonded indebtedness is
determined by the city's as
sessed value, I'VE should double
the assessments, cut the tax in
half so it wouldn't cost the tax
payer any more than it does
now and thereby increase our
power to borrow from SIS mil
lion to $50 Million" the mayor
said.
Then, he continued, the city
would have the funds to mod
ernize the downtown area in
urban renewal fashion, provide
parking lots, widen streets and
generally encourage shoppers
to stop in Alexandria instead of
going into the District or into
shopping areas in the adjoining
counties.
Without the borrowing, how
ever, officials agree the mod
ernization, even with Federal
aid, would be all but impossible.
Tax Raise Later Feared
How do we know" one
merchant asked, "if, after our
real estate assessments are
doubled. some future council
won't start ncreasin 6 the
halved tax rate? We just don't
have any guarantee"
Others simply argued that, if
you borrow money, you've got
to pay it back.
Generally, however, the OPP
position expressed itself more
profoundly.
One merchant close to City
Hall said the mayors assess
ment proposal looks all right
on paper, but it isn't that easy"
The principal difficulty, he
said, lies in the fact that the
doubling of the real estate as
sessments would not affect the
lcity's large number of utilities,
whose assessed values are fixed
by the State.
But If you cut the taxes. the
utilities are affected and the
city would be losing money. We
can't raise their assessments.
but we can lower them" he
complained.
Figures in the proposed 1883
SO city budget show a total
anticipated real estate tax in
come of $5.3 million. of which
l$1.3 million would come from
the utilities. The cut. therefore,
would place the utilities con-
tribution at Just above 100000
Ia big difference" one mer-
chant observed.
Despite the opposition to the
mayors assessment proposal, a
few merchants saw his plan as
good" They pointed to his
recommendation that the city
set up a full-fledged Depart
ment of Industry to encourage
light industrial Arms to locate
in the city.
"They could help carry the
tax burden" one merchant
said. land help pay back the
money we would borrow under
the proposal"
Another store owner who APP
proves the mayors plan said,
1T takes a dollar to make a
dollar. and we'll never get GUS
toners back to Alexandria UNI