Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 69.djvu/764

 722

40 USC 4 72.

PUBLIC LAW 388-AUG. 12, 1955

[69 S T A T.

SEC. 2. Section 3 of such Act is hereby amended by inserting immediately after "As used in" the following: "titles I through VI of" SEC. 3. Such Act is hereby further amended by adding at the end thereof the following: "TITLE VII—PROPERTY TRANSFERRED FROM THE RECONSTRUCTION FINANCE CORPORATION " D E C I ^ R A T I O N OF POLICY

701. The Congress recognizes that the transfer of real property having a taxable status from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation or any of its subsidiaries to another Government department has often operated to remove such property from the tax rolls of States and local taxing authorities, thereby creating an undue and unexpected burden upon such States and local taxing authorities, and causing disruption of their operations. I t is the purpose of this title to furnish temporary measures of relief for such States and local taxing authorities by providing that payments in lieu of taxes shall be made with respect to real property so transferred on or after January 1, 1946. •'SEC,

"DEFINITIONS

"SEC. 702. As used in this title " (a) The term 'State' means each of the several States of the United States and the Territories of Alaska and Hawaii. "(b) The term 'real property' means (1) any interest in land, and (2) any improvement made thereon prior to any transfer thereof occurring on or after January 1, 1946, from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to any other Government department, if for the purpose of taxation such interest or improvement is characterized as real property under the applicable law of the State in which such land is located. "(c) The term 'local taxing authority' means any county ox municipality, and any subdivision of any State, county, or municipality, which is authorized by law to levy and collect taxes upon real property. " (d) The terms 'real property tax' and 'real property taxes' do not include any special assessment levied upon real property after the date of a transfer of such real property occurring on or after January 1, 1946, from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to any other Government department. "(e) The term 'Government department' means any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States, except the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. "(f) The term 'transfer'means— " (1) a transfer of custody and control of, or accountability for the care and handling of, any real property, or " (2) a transfer of legal title to any real property. " (g) The term 'Reconstruction Finance Corporation' includes all subsidiaries of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. "PROPERTY TRANSFERRED BY THE RECONSTRUCTION FINANCE CORPORATION

"SEC. 703. Where real property has been transferred on or after January 1, 1946, from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to any

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