Since appearing before your Committee on March 1st and 2nd, a pending item has been resolved, necessitating request that the amount of $1,075,000 included in the Budget for the Capitol Grounds for the fiscal year 1974 be increased by $12,000 to $1,087,000. In June 1971, the District Government, pursuant to City Council Ordinance 71-21 of June 21, 1971, issued regulations levying against all entities a charge of $5.00 per ton for the disposal of solid waste at any District of Columbia owned, operated, or contract facility. After question as to the validity of this charge was raised by the Architect of the Capitol and several other Federal Agencies, we were advised that the Ordinance was not applicable to Federal Agencies. In November 1972, notice was received from the District Government advising that, under an amendment to the June Regulations adopted July 18, 1972, the $5.00 per ton charge would be imposed on Federal Agencies, in addition to entities covered by the June 21, 1971 regulation, commencing September 1, 1972. - 2 Question then arose as to whether such levy actually constituted a tax from which the Federal Government is immune. The matter was explored and consideration given to a Comptroller General decision, issued in November 1970, covering another item, which enunciated the principle that charges levied by a political unit against Federal agencies and other property tax-exempt entities, and based upon the quantum of service provided, are not deemed a tax against the United States, even though the same service is provided without a direct charge to taxpayers of the jurisdiction, so long as the service is not one which by law must be provided without charge to all within the boundaries of the political unit. In December 1972, the Architect of the Capitol requested, by letter addressed to Commissioner Washington, that he be advised as to whether the $5.00 per ton charge for disposal of solid waste was being charged against all entities exempt from property tax within the District of Columbia. By letter of February 7, 1973, Commissioner Washington advised that the Solid Waste Regulation No. 71-21, as amended July 18, 1972 and unanimously approved by the D.C. Council, provides for no exception to the waste disposal charge. At the request of the Architect, there was furnished to this office a copy of the Ordinance of the City Council under which the $5.00 per ton levy was ordered; also, citations to the statutory authority vesting the Council with the power to issue the Solid Waste Ordinance. Review of documents by the General Counsel of the Architect's Office, supplied by the D.C. Government in response to the Architect's request, established 91-826 O-73-80 - 3 satisfactorily that the Council has the authority to impose the Solid Waste charge and to render such charge applicable to Federal agencies, as long as it is applied without discrimination. The matter was finally resolved to the satisfaction of the Architect of the Capitol, March 14, 1973, at which time it was formally concluded that the $5.00 per ton charge for solid waste disposal is made pursuant to proper statutory authority, that its levy against the Federal Government does not constitute a tax from which the Federal Government would be immune, that the $5.00 per ton charge is applied without discrimination, and that the Architect of the Capitol is therefore liable for the payment of such charge upon use of waste disposal facilities of the District of Columbia. Solid waste material is hauled daily from the Capitol Buildings and Grounds to disposal areas owned, or operated by, or under contract to, the District of Columbia. Based on records of tonnage disposal of such waste during the past 5 months, the annual charge for such disposal which must be defrayed from the "Capitol Grounds" appropriation in the fiscal year 1974 will amount to $12,000. Request is therefore made that the 1974 Budget Estimate for "Capitol Grounds", considered by your Committee at Hearings on March 1st and 2nd, be increased by $12,000. Sincerely yours, George M. White, FAIA |