Unrealistic assumptions about the law of Galactic rotation in kinematic methods of determining the distance to the center of the Galaxy (R₀) can strongly distort the result. An empirical method for optimizing the smoothness of the model rotation curve is proposed that eliminates the corresponding systematic errors in R₀. A generalized procedure for estimating R₀from an analysis of the rotation of an arbitrary, uniform, flat subsystem of Galactic objects is developed.