The designation as prescribed in § 47-701 to each of said lots or parcels of land, which they shall respectively bear on the records of the Assessor of said District at the time said lots or parcels become subject to sale for arrears of any tax or assessment, shall be the official designation of said lots or parcels of land for the enforcement of the collection of all such arrears of general taxes and assessments for the tax year in which the said designation shall be given, and until such designation be changed pursuant to law.

The Mayor of the District of Columbia shall cause to be made a daily transcript, and entry on the records of said Assessor, of the designations of lots or parcels of land in said District appearing in instruments of conveyance received for record in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds, and the designations of lots or parcels of land in said District transferred by probated wills; and the person or persons whom the Mayor of said District may designate for the purpose of making such transcript shall for this purpose at all times during office hours have full access to the records of the Recorder of Deeds and the Register of Wills of said District; and the Assessor shall daily furnish the Surveyor with a copy of such transcript.

For the purpose of facilitating the assessment and taxation of real property in the territory within the limits of the District of Columbia lying outside of the City of Washington the following system of designating the several subdivisions, blocks, lots, and parcels of land is hereby prescribed, and each and every designation made or given in conformity with said system shall be deemed a sufficient description of the property to which it relates for all purposes of assessment and the collection of taxes and assessments of every kind.

The Mayor of the District of Columbia is hereby authorized and directed to cause to be given numbers to all of said blocks or squares, lots or parcels of land as said blocks, squares, lots, or parcels of land have been formed by the highway extension plan, of record on February 23, 1905, in the Office of Surveyor of the District of Columbia, and subdivisions existing on February 23, 1905, and to place the numbers so given upon the said highway extension plan; provided, that in all cases where 2 or more blocks or parts of contiguous existing subdivisions are surrounded as a group by existing streets or roads, or by proposed streets of the highway extension plan, such group shall be numbered as a block or square upon the recorded plats of the highway extension plan; provided further, that where lots are numbered in duplicate in any block or square which includes parts of 2 or more existing subdivisions, new lot numbers shall be given said lots numbered in duplicate, and new lot numbers shall also be given to all parts of lots remaining after the extension of streets or alleys by dedication, condemnation, or purchase, whereby parts of lots have become public property; provided further, that new lot numbers shall also be given to all parts of original and subdivided lots existing on February 23, 1905, on the records of the Assessor and the Surveyor of the District of Columbia.

The Mayor of the District of Columbia shall cause to be prepared a series of volumes of plats, on a scale of 100 feet to the inch, embracing all the land in said District outside the City of Washington, these plats to show at all times the separate parcels of land created by subdivisions, sales, wills, condemnations, dedications, decrees of court, or otherwise, each with its distinctive number. Said books shall be kept in the Office of the Surveyor of said District, and shall be numbered according to the first and last page numbers of each volume, the pages being numbered continuously, and indefinitely rising in numbers as new books are opened to record changes in the outlines of parcels from any cause.

For the purpose of keeping said books constantly current and up to date, the Mayor shall cause an employee of the Surveyor's office to make daily transcripts of all deeds of conveyance, wills, condemnations, decrees, and other instruments or proceedings by which boundaries are changed; for which purpose, such employee of the Surveyor's office shall at all times during business hours have full and free access to all records of the Recorder of Deeds, Register of Wills, Clerk of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Clerk of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, Marshal, and other officials; and the Surveyor shall furnish to the Assessor a copy of such transcript, from which a duplicate set of taxation and assessment plat books shall be maintained by the said assessor; provided, that the current series of taxation and assessment plat books in the Surveyor's office shall be the standard book of reference for all purposes of assessment and taxation by all departments of the government of the District of Columbia.

The designation given as hereinbefore prescribed in § 47-704 to each block or square, lot or parcel of land, respectively appearing on the records of the Assessor of the District of Columbia at the time any assessment or tax is levied for which such property may become subject to sale, shall be a complete and official designation of said block or square, lot or parcel of land, for the purpose of the collection of taxes or assessments of any kind, and the designations so given shall be considered good and sufficient descriptions in any advertisements of such property for sale for delinquent taxes or assessments.

It shall be the duty of the Administrator of General Services, within 90 days after the sale of any lots or squares belonging to the United States in the City of Washington, to report the fact to the proper officers of the District, giving the date of sale, the number of the lot and square, and the name of the purchaser; and such lots or squares shall be liable to taxation by the District from the day of sale.