D.C.’s chief monetary officer dropped an financial bombshell late Friday night: The District is going through a finances shortfall of greater than $1 billion over the following three-and-a-half years, he projected.
CFO Glenn Lee flagged income drops from revenue tax, property tax and gross sales tax because the Trump administration fires and lays off hundreds of federal staff.
At separate press conferences Monday, Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson fielded questions on how they plan to stability the District’s finances and what cuts they are going to make to packages and companies.
Mendelson mentioned elevating taxes just isn’t an choice for him.
“We is not going to clear up this downside by elevating taxes,” he mentioned. “Lots of our taxes are the best within the area. We should always not preserve going larger.”
The mayor wouldn’t make the identical dedication to take tax will increase off the desk.
“Effectively, I by no means take something off the desk after I’m formulating the finances, particularly we hope that that is the most recent replace earlier than I’ve to ship the finances to the council. So, I by no means take something off the desk,” she mentioned.
Regardless of the sobering fiscal forecast, Bowser mentioned she nonetheless helps utilizing public funds to construct an NFL stadium on the RFK campus.
“We nonetheless need to spend money on our development. Who needs to go searching in 4 years and see the identical factor at RFK? No tax income coming in. So, we’ve to, that is an engine, that is an financial engine,” she mentioned. “… What we’ve to do is to make it possible for we’re changing the exercise and income that we’re lacking from revenue in different methods.”
As for which packages could be reduce with a view to make up such an enormous finances hole, Bowser solely would level to her finances priorities.
“Our focus has been on ensuring that we’ve sturdy investments in public security and public schooling,
and that we’re investing in our downtown,” she mentioned.
Mendelson identified that public schooling and human companies packages make up about half of the District’s finances.
“I don’t need to counsel that there are going to be packages worn out, though that’s doable. All I can say is that if roughly 1 / 4 of the finances is simply human companies, it is inescapable that human companies will not be affected by cuts,” he mentioned.
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Bowser mentioned negotiations with the Commanders a couple of potential stadium in D.C. are ongoing, with a way of urgency. Mendelson affirmed his opposition to spending any public funds on a brand new stadium.
