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for the old material claimed to have been taken from in front of his premises, and that he has not disposed of the same. The assessments for special improvements have been made up and transmitted to the deputy comptroller for collection as rapidly as the statements of expenditures could be obtained from the board of audit, and the following extract from my last annual report gives an approximate idea of what is to be realized from these assessments:

The total expenditure on account of special improvements under the board of public works and under the Commissioners, upon streets not yet assessed, may be approximately stated as follows:

Total expenditures up to November 1, 1875, obtained from the records
of the board of audit, as an approximate statement from the bills in
their hands at that time, both audited and unaudited..
Measurements made since that time, being increments over former
measurements, and representing additional work..

Estimated cost of completion of all work in hand, including work
already finished but of which the measurements have not yet been
made up......

There is retained from the assessment of each street and avenue onehalf the cost of improvement of its intersection with other streets and avenues, to be included in the assessment of the latter. Up to this date this amount is....

These four items give a total expenditure on account of special im-
provements, not yet assessed, of..

There has been appropriated by the United States, in
part payment for the work of special improvement,
$3,522,936.18, and of this there is applicable, in part
payment of the amount not yet assessed..
The great main sewers, the sea-walls of the James
Creek Canal, and the K-street market can hardly be
considered as special improvements of the adjacent
property, and should not be assessed as such. Their
cost is

The repairs of contract-work which should not be as-
sessed as a special improvement amount to .......
The claims for old material are recog
nized as a credit or drawback upon
the assessment. The aggregate of these
claims upon each street is added to the
statement of expenditures upon that
street, and when, after deducting half
intersections of other streets and the
amounts chargeable to the General
Government, one-third of the remain-
ing expenditure is taken for the spe-
cial assessment, the loss to the tax by
the credit for the full value of the old
material is two-thirds of this full val-
ue. The aggregate of the claims for
old material upon unassessed streets
in the hands of the board of audit is
reported at.....

$1,511,837 51

3,211,541 45

666, 123 12

$9,446, 232 15

1,205, 456 31

539,778 29

236,723 33

11, 428, 190 08

Add to this the value of the old material measured up by this office.....

$76,016 91
73,576 41

Total

149,593 32

Two-thirds of this is...

99,728 88

The sum of these four items gives a total deduction of.............

5,489, 230 96

Leaving a balance of .....

Add five per cent. for engineering and superintendence....

Total

5,938, 959 12 296,947 95

6,235, 907 07

Of this amount one-third is collectible by special tax upon the adjacent property, viz....

2,078, 635 69

The act of the District legislature which was approved May 29, 1873, pledged the special-improvement tax thereafter to be collected to the redemption of the 8-per-cent. improvement-certificates known as greenbacks."

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The deputy comptroller furnishes the following statement in regard to the special assessments received applicable to the redemption of these certificates:

From the late board of public works......
From the Commissioners of District of Columbia..

Less additional drawbacks and corrections, certificates of the auditor of the board of public works received in payment and canceled, (these certificates are no longer receivable in payment of the tax,) and accrued interest due at time of redemption of each certificate and allowed.

Amount available ...

$1,176, 982 07

733, 026 61 1,910, 008 68

136,090 43

1,773,918 25

The sinking-fund commission furnishes the following statement of interest due: Statement of 8-per-cent. improvement-certificates.

Amount of issue

Amount redeemed to November 1, 1875....

Outstanding....

Interest on amount outstanding past due....

Coupons due January 1 and July 1, 1875, received in payment of taxes.

Balance.....

The deputy comptroller's statement shows that there are outstanding 8-
per-cent. certificates not represented by special assessments now avail-
able for their redemption, amounting to...
Add the interest due, as above

Total.....

Deducting this from the special-improvement tax which it is estimated will be collectible on account of the remaining expenditures unassessed, as before stated, and deducting further 5 per centum for loss in the correction of erroneous assessments, there remains an approximate excess of.....

$2,000, 000 00 834,750 00

1, 165, 250 00

93, 220 00 19, 450 00 73,770 00

226, 081 75 73,770 00

299,851 75

1,689, 844 74

This amount, or so much thereof as shall be collected, will constitute an asset to be applied to whatever purpose may be authorized by law. I learn, upon inquiry from the commissioners of the sinking-fund and the deputy comptroller, that prior to January 1, 1875, and before the pres ent Commissioners of the District entered upon their duties, the interest was paid upon these 8-per-cent. certificates from funds derived from other sources to the extent of $133,575, for which re-imbursement in cash has been made from cash payments on assessments for special improvements to the extent of $48,325.03, so that on interest-account of the S-per-cent. the special fund derivable from assessments for special improvements is indebted in the amount of $84,669.97. If the excess of assessments made and to be made over and above the principal of the 8-per-cent. certificates and the interest thereon due for January 1 and July 1, 1875, shall be collected, which excess, as above stated, amounts to $1,689,844.74, there will then remain, as representing an estimated surplus of assessments made and to be made upon private property, over and above the above-mentioned amount, the sum of $1,605,174.77.

It is to be remembered, however, that to the District treasury, and not to any other creditor, this special fund is indebted, as respects the abovementioned sum of $84,669.97. The estimated surplus of assessments made and to be made, over and above the claims of creditors other than the District, is the first-mentioned sum of $1,689,844.74; and it is to be

remembered that the availability of any part of this sum as an asset depends upon payment or collection to a sufficient extent, also depends the retirement of the 8-per-cent. certificates, which are receivable in payment of such assessments, or are to be paid from the fund arising from cash payment of such assessments. Meanwhile interest at the rate of 8 per cent. per annum upon these certificates, and 10 per cent. per annum upon the lien-certificates issued upon property the owners of which are delinquent in this tax, will continue.

No account is made in the foregoing estimate of the accrued interest upon lien-certificates issued to November 30, 1875, nor is the interest upon the outstanding 8-per-cent. certificates accrued since July 1, 1875, considered. The interest upon the latter is due only semi-annually, al though it is allowed up to date when the certificates are presented in payment of special-improvement tax or for redemption, the interest upon the tax-lien certificates being computed from the date of presentation of bill to the time of payment of the tax.

The present system of taxation for improvements, which levies upon the property immediately benefited a tax of only one-third the cost, has been found to induce a vigorous competition among property-owners for the extension to them of the benefit of the improvement. The owners of property as yet unvisited by the work complain that they are taxed for two-thirds of the cost of especially benefiting other property, while sharing only indirectly in this benefit. There is every reason to suppose that a moderate increase in the proportion of the tax paid by the property in the vicinity of which the improvement is made, while it might have a tendency to moderate the demand for the improvement of outlying streets where property is of little value, would not retard the progress of the improvements where they are most needed. Up to the time of the board of public works, the entire cost of such improvements has been assessed against adjacent property. It is, of course, to be considered whether such a departure from the present system of taxation would now be equitable.

In the case of alleys, very few of which have yet been assessed, there can be no question of the injustice of requiring the general public to contribute any part of the cost of improvement. These alleys are originally laid out and subsequently improved for the sole benefit of the adjacent property. The cost of their condemnation is now by law paid by the property bordering upon them, and the cost of their improvement should be similarly defrayed.

It is next to impossible to obtain a strictly equitable adjustment of the special-improvement tax in every instance, but I recommend the subject of taxation for the improvement of alleys to your immediate consideration.

Work upon the assessments is now propressing rapidly, the statements of expenditures being prepared by the auditor of the District of Columbia, in whose custody are the records of the board of audit. A sufficient number of assessments has already been transmitted to the deputy comptroller to redeem all of the outstanding 8 per cent. improvement bonds and leave a considerable surplus, which is rapidly increas ing. Very little difficulty is experienced in the collection of this tax, the constant transfer of real estate operating as a spur to those who might be delinquent but for the necessity of clearing the titles to their property; and the fact that the tax is payable in five equal annual installments explains the discrepancy between the actual collections and the amount of the assessments.

The following table gives a clear statement of assessments made up

to this time. The tabular statement appended to the report of the surveyor (Appendix 3) shows the streets which have been assessed and the distribution of expenditures since the last published report of the board of public works.

Statement of balances showing the distribution of expenditures assessed under the late board of public works to and including the last assessment made under said board.

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Statement of balances showing the distribution of expenditures assessed under the Commissioners of the District of Columbia to and including the last assessment made to date.

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NOTE.-Property-holders' accounts include water and sewer services and less draw

backs.

With the termination of the contracts of the board of public works, their extensions and modifications, the work of improvement in the District has been practically suspended. A few cash contracts have been given out for the completion of such work as remained unfinished and in such condition as to require attention, and upon these there has been expended in cash the sum of $226,081.57, and there remains to be expended for their completion the sum of $13,894.05. The total expenditure under cash contracts for improvement since November 30, 1875, is $242,608.45. Work of improvement has been continued to a small extent, without other expense to the District than the furnishing of such material as remained on hand, by parties who have applied for permits for this purpose, and at whose expense the work has been done, under the direction and subject to the requirements of this office.

The current work of repair and the work of the water department and of the parking commission has been continued by days' labor, and the sweeping of the streets and avenues and cleaning of alleys have

been done under contract. The labor of the chain-gang has been utilized to great advantage in the work of repair and in the planting of trees under the direction of the parking commission, and a notable economy has been effected in the reduction of rates for day-labor of men, horses, and vehicles.

The reduction in the cost of sweeping streets and avenues and cleaning alleys, under the administration of the Commissioners, is now about $51,000 per annum.

The reduction in the cost of the clerical force and field-parties for engineering and superintendence under the direction of this office, as compared with the corresponding organization under the board of publie works, was, during the progress of the work of improvement under the various contracts of the board of public works, about $156,776.28 per annum, and is now about $185,245.80 per annum. The average increase of receipts over expenditures in the public markets is now about $6,562.74 per annum.

The daily report of this date, herewith presented, shows the total expenditure since the date of my last annual report. With this is given an estimate for the present fiscal year and for the fiscal year ending Jane 30, 1878. Details of the expenditures will be found in the appended tables and reports.

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