| OCR Text |
Show ership. Other programs, such as that of the Fish and Wildlife Service, might also require public land purchase. Although it appears unlikely that significant amounts of valuable land will be taken from the tax rolls, it is possible that relatively large areas of low-value land will become tax-exempt through public ownership. Much of the land to be acquired for reservoir sites will be in the upstream areas of the basin while the benefits from these projects will accrue to areas downstream. Furthermore, even though the aggre- gate area of all reservoirs is relatively small, the re- duction of the tax base in particular counties or school districts may be substantial. A total of 47,768 acres of land was acquired for Allatoona. Reservoir, 20,300 acres of which were needed for the power pool. The land was removed from tax rolls of three counties in Georgia, 19,000 acres eacli from Cherokee and Bartow Counties and 9,500 acres from Cobb County. These acreages were 7, 6, and 4 percent, respectively, of the total areas of those counties. These data do not indicate the effect on reduction of tax base in smaller polit- ical subdivisions such as school districts. Experience in other areas indicates that problems which result from decrease in tax base of local polit- ical units are temporary. This does not make them less real. In time, however, as the leasing program on reservoir lands becomes established and as new enterprises develop in the vicinity of water projects, the changed tax base plus the leasing returns may exceed trie tax losses. In one project studied, this readjustment period lasted for 10 years after lands were acquired for the project. The Allatoona Reservoir* has not been in existence long enough to examine its total effect on the tax base of local units affected. Under section 5 of the Flood Control Act of 1946, 75 percent of the income received from leasing lands acquired for flood control purposes is to be returned to the States to be expended for public schools and public roads in the counties in which the acquired lands are located.1 The Forest Service returns 25 percent of the gross receipts from national forests to States for the benefit of the public schools and roads in the counties in which the forest lands are located. The Tennessee Valley Author- ity pays directly to the counties the amount of former taxes, including taxes levied by taxing dis- *Act of July 24, 1946, § 5, 60 Stat. 641, 33 U. S. C. 701c-3. tricts within the counties, on acquired power prop- erty and reservoir lands allocable to power; the amounts so paid are deducted from amounts other- wise due the respective States from TVA revenues. Amounts equal to former municipal property taxes on privately owned power lines purchased by TVA are included in payments to the States. As reservoir sites are acquired and as power revenues, leasing income, and receipts from national forests increase, the differences in treatment of tax losses by various Federal agencies under present provisions and the practice of the Tennessee Valley Authority may make it increasingly difficult to ar- rive at a mutually satisfactory and equitable solu- tion of the problem in the basin. General legis- lation of national scope is now being prepared with a view to providing uniform standards for payments in lieu of taxes on the various kinds of acquired Federal properties. Conclusions Tax losses to State and local governments from property acquisition in connection with water re- sources programs cannot equitably be ignored. To do so might impose an unmerited hardship on some local governmental agencies, and would doubtless arouse resentment; it is also desirable that the Fed- eral Government assume proper costs of ownership of federally acquired lands, including an appropri- ate share of the costs of local government. Projects that primarily benefit local communities should be regarded as though they were owned by the State or local governments and no payments in lieu of taxes, beyond any applicable sharing of gross income from such projects, should be made thereon. But State and local governments should be com- pensated for tax losses on property used primarily to serve national or broad regional interests, with credit for any services rendered directly by the Fed- eral Government or for payments made under any revenue-sharing arrangement. General legislation of national scope should in- clude such provisions as will result in a definite and equitable solution of this problem in the basin and elsewhere. 2. Extent of Federal Government Concern With Pollution Control The Problem The place of Federal action on pollution abate- ment in a basin water resources program. 548 |
