Res 324 4/14/1958It
RESOLUTION NO.324
VtHEREAS, under Section 1033 of the U. S. 1954 Internal
Revenue Code, if land is taken under condemnation proceedings
by any governmental agency, the taking thereof is held to be
an t ;involuntary conversion,tt and, if the amount received by
the landowner exceeds the amount the land costs him, the excess
is held to be income; and
WHEREAS, this excess brought about by "involuntary con-
version" is is subject to Federal income tax if the landowner does
not, within one year, invest the proceeds of the forced sale in
land of similar or related use; and
VFHEREAS, under the present contemplated program of the
various governmental agencies, many large reservoirs of water
will be created under condemnation proceedings and tens of
thousands of acres of land will be flooded and thus taken out
of use for agriculture and grazing; and
WHEREAS, also many thousands of acres of land as well as
other property will be condemned for highway right- of--way pur-
poses in the consummation of the current Federal inter -state
highway program; and
�i&MEAS, a considerable portion of the land taken by con-
demnation will be valuable property, including that along river
creek courses, and will generally flood the arable and best
grazing lands, and leave the ridge land (the least valuable) to
the landowners; and in many cases will totally disrupt a practi-
cal and profitable business operation; and
WHEREAS, under the Section of the Income Tax Law referred
to hereinbefore, landowners will have to invest the proceeds
of the condemnation sales in other property similar to that
taken from them by "involuntary conversion,tt or pay income tax
as stated hereinbefore; and
VMEREAS, this condemnation of large acreages of good arable
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and grazing lands will greatly reduce the amount of such land, and
at the sane time increase the number of people trying to purchase
such lands, and thereby stimulate the operation of the law of supply
and demand, thus causing the price asked for such similar land or
property to be increased considerably for such land or property as
may be offered for sale; and
wHEREAS, in many cases aged people of relatively small financial
resources will be Forced to pay the income tax or seek ,a home in dis-
tant parts of the State, or other states, where similar property may
be for sale, and, if they succeed in finding such property for sale
and do purchase same, they will have to leave the communities where
their relatives and longtime friends live and where their church and
other civic ties have long been established, and begin life among
strangers; and
WHEREAS, these landowners annually pay Federal income taxes as
other citizens do, and yet by this discriminatory provision of the
present Internal Revenue Code, they are unjustly required to pay an
additional income tax;
1�01v, THEREFCPE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Aldermen of the
City of Wichita Falls, Texas, that the Congress of the United States
be petitioned to amend the Internal Revenue Code so as to repeal the
provision requiring the owners of land or property taken by condemna-
tion to pay income tax on the excess of such sales and permit the
owners, without paying income tax on same, to invest the proceeds
in any kind of property they may desire; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that official copies of this resolution
be sent to the two United States Senators from Texas, to the Honorable
Frank Ikard, U. S. Congressman from the Thirteenth Congressional
District of Texas and to Representative Wilber D. Mills of Califonnia,
who is the chairman of the House Ways and Me, ans Committee, as well
as the Joint House and Senate Committee on Internal Revenue.
PASSED AND APPROVED this 14th day of April, A. D. 1958.