Evening star. [volume], April 15, 1937, Page A-16, Image 16

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
'
Automotive Group Manager
Believes It Would Affect
All Business.
' BY RICHARD J. MURPHY.
"Manager. Washington Automotive Trade
Association.
One of the tax bills introduced in
the House is "to require the registra
tion of motor vehicles in the District
of Columbia and to prescribe registra
tion fees based upon the weight of
such motor vehicles and for other
purposes.” In this article I shall not
touch upon the "other purposes” for
the reason that they do not concern
the general public. After considerable
•tudy, it is my honest and sincere
opinion that the passage of this bill,
which will Increase the cost of owning
and operating a motor vehicle, will
greatly reduce the volume of business
done by automotive merchants and
those engaged in kindred lines, and in
turn seriously affect the volume of
business as a whole in the District of
Columbia. Below I enumerate the items
I considered in reaching my decision.
The figures contained therein are in
round numbers, and after discussing
them with various persons whom I
believe are well informed, I deem them
conservative.
180,000 Vehicles Registered.
1. At this time there are (excluding
those owned by the federal and Dis
trict Governments and credited repre
sentatives of foreign governments, who
are permitted registration without fee)
approximately 180,000 motor vehicles
and trailers registered in the District
of Columbia for 1937, on which have
been paid registration fees at $1
each, totaling $180,000, and personal
property taxes totaling $700,000, or a
grand total of $880,000. or $4.88 each.
The passage of the bill I am discussing
provides fees of 35 cents per 100 pounds
for passenger motor vehicles and trail
ers used for purposes other than hire,
or the transportation of property
whether or not for hire, and various
fees for other classes based upon
weights to be determined by the direc
tor of vehicles and traffic. The cost
of registration based on the manufac
turer's shipping weight, which would
begin wdth the issuance of the 1938
Identification tags, would be as follows:
157,500 motor vehicles and
trailers, average
$10 each--$1,575,000
16,000 trucks, average
$55 each- 880,000
4,600 taxicabs, average
$35 each... 165,600
1,000 busses, average
$160 each.. 160,000
900 miscellaneous_ 1,000
Total—180,000 _$2,781,600
As the bill provides for the abolish
ment of personal taxes on motor ve
hicles, we deduct the sum of $700,000
from the above-mentioned dollar to
tal, which leaves the sum of $2,081,
600. and deducting from this the
$180,000 based on the rate of $1 for
a set of 1937 identification tags leaves
a balance of $1,901,600. which is the
staggering increased sum that the
District of Columbia owners of motor
vehicles will have to pay for their
1938 identification tags, over and
above their total cost of their 1937
identification tags and personal prop
erty taxes. Reducing it down to the
average motor vehicle means that the
cost of obtaining 1938 identification
tags will be $10,56 each, or an in
crease of $5.68 per motor vehicle and
trailer, which is 117 per cent.
Greater Number Per Capita.
2. At the present time Washington
has a greater number of motor ve
hicles per capita than any other city
in the world, and the District of Co
lumbia is in the same situation as far
as States are concerned, there being
registered here one motor vehicle and
trailer to every 2.6 persons; and this
enviable situation to my mind has
been brought about by a registration
fee of $1 plus personal property taxes.
In connection with this, “let us look
at the record." In the calendar year
of 1935, the last year for which com
plete figures are available at this
time, more new motor vehicles were
sold in the District of Columbia than
were sold in any of the following ju
risdictions ;
Alabama and Nevada combined,
Arizona, Delaware and Idaho com
bined; Arkansas and North Dakota,
Maine and Montana combined, Mis
sissippi and New Mexico combined,
Rhode Island and South Dakota,
South Carolina and Vermont com
bined, Utah, Wyoming and New
Hampshire combined; Colorado, Loui
siana, Oregon, West Virginia.
The registration fees charged in the
above-mentioned 22 States are greater
than that of the District of Columbia,
and this in the main is why the Dis
trict of Columbia sells more new mo
tor vehicles per annum than they.
State* Have Reduced Fee.
3 During the past five years various
Btates of the Union have reduced the
fees for the registration of motor ve
hicles, and some went so far as to
permit payment on the installment
plan. They did this for the reason
that they learned that high registra
tion fees reduced the number of new
and used motor vehicles and trailers
sold and operated, thereby decreasing
the amount of tax received by the
State and Federal Governments from
the sale of gasoline and lubricating
oils as well as the loss to the State of
personal property taxes in those juris
dictions where this had prevailed. I
know that any increase in the fees
will prevent the purchase of motor
vehicles and trailers by present non
owners, and at the beginning of the
new registration year would seriously
curtail the re-registration of a large
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CLIMBS ON CHAIR TO REACH
IODINE BOTTLE.
JACKIE SOUDER,
Two-year-old. son of Mr. and
Mrs. John Souder, 5723 Third
place, who was recovering from
throat burns today after he
found a bottle of iodine and
swallowed some of the con
tents. Jackie’s mother ivas
busy in the kitchen yesterday
when he removed the bottle
from a shelf after climbing
onto a chair. He was treated
at Washington Sanitarium
and later returned home.
number of vehicles and trailers, and
in particular the heavy duty trucks.
4. The owners of motor vehicles and
trailers, as a whole, are taxed in pro
portion more than any other owner
of personal property, and this plus
the fact that I have previously stated,
that no other jurisdiction is increasing
its registration fees, that the introduc
tion of this proposed legislation seems
to me as being all wrong. If it was
proven that the financial needs of the
District of Columbia for the operation
of the Department of Vehicles and
Traffic, the streets and highways
needed a greater sum than the present
registration fee of $1 plus the 2-cent
gasoline tax, which by the way should
not be increased, I would be one of
the first individuals to support this
bill. No doubt it is the purpose of the
sponsors of HR 6033 ,nd HR 6037, the
last named to increase the District of
Columbia gasoline tax from 2 cents to
4 cents a gallon, to turn over any ex
cesses to the general fund of the Dis
trict of Columbia Government. I
submit that such a procedure is most
unfair for the reason that there should
not be collected fees for the registra
tion of motor vehicles and trailers and
taxes on gasoline of an amount greater
than that required for the operation
of the Department of Vehicles and
Traffic and the maintenance of streets
and highways. My position in this
respect is sustained by the Federal
Government in the Hayden-Cartwright
bill of 1934. An extract of it reads as
follows:
“'Since it is unfair and unjust to tax
motor vehicle transportation unless
the proceeds of such taxation are ap
plied to the construction, improvement
or maintenance of highways, after
June 30, 1935, Federal aid for highway
construction shall be extended only to
those States that use at least the
amounts now provided by law for
such purposes In each State from State
motor vehicle registration fees, licenses,
gasoline taxes and other special taxes
on motor vehicle owners and operators
of all kinds for the construction, Im
provement and maintenance of high
ways and administrative expenses In
connection therewith . . . and for no
other purposes.
Place* Unfair Burden.
In conclusion let me say that the
use of weight as a basis for figuring the
registration fee is going back to the.
open-car days and places a load on the
owners of motor vehicle* and trailers
that is most unfair. Consequently
every resident of the District of Co
lumbia should use all means at his
disposal and influence his friends,
neighbors and acquaintances to do
likewise in putting forth every effort
in order that there may be no increase
in registration fees or tax upon gaso
line in the District of Columbia, pri
marily for the reason that the present
$1 registration fee is sufficient to
cover the cost of everything surround
ing the issue of identification tags, and
the present gasoline tax is sufficient to
take care of the needs of streets and
highways. Furthermore, the fees col
lected for the registration of motor
vehicles are in reality license fees. In
many jurisdictions identification tags
are now called license tags and are
issued by the department of license,
which was the situation here up until
six years ago. License fees are for
the cost of operation and supervision
and are not for the purpose of pro
ducing revenue.
OHIO INCOME TAX VOTED
House Passes Bill and AskB Senate
Concurrence.
COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 15 UP).—
Again the Ohio House of Representa
tives passed a personal income tax bill
yesterday and asked the Senate to
concur.
By a vote of 81 to 44 it passed the
bill by Representative Lody Huml,
Democrat, of Cuyahoga, which levies
a graduated rate on pergonal Incomes
ranging from 3 per cent on the first
$3,000 to 9 per cent on all over $8,000.
Twice previously the House hag
passed similar income tax bills only to
have them smothered by the Senate.
With the session drawing to a close,
chances for final enactment of such a
law during the present session gen*
erally Is considered slight.
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