Use our new Budget Lookup Tool to navigate through an agency budget to select and analyze its components. You’ll see the results in real-time.
The third and final part of our series on The State of Older Adults in the District of Columbia uses four hypothetical D.C. senior households to cost of living and how public benefit programs could help them make ends meet. Only one of the archetypes would be able to afford their basic cost of living without any public assistance.
As 2020 comes to a close, I have been thinking a lot about the high highs and the low lows of this unprecedented year. The Budget Office team entered the year expecting full reserves, hundreds of millions of dollars of additional resources, and ever increasing revenues throughout the financial plan. By March we had delayed the budget transmission and were staring down the greatest public health emergency in a century, a severe economic downturn that left thousands unemployed and businesses on the brink of closure, and tax revenues on the decline.
Today the Office of the Budget Director’s Research Division released “The State of Older Adults in the District of Columbia: Getting to Know DC’s Older Adults.” This report is the first of a multi-part series that explores the demographic and economic characteristics of the District’s senior population, considers the range of publicly provided benefits available to senior adults in the District and examines how these programs help close the gap between seniors’ living expenses and their earnings and savings.
In anticipation of a great new budget year, we updated the website for the Office of the Budget Director. We hope it will be easier to navigate and your first stop when looking for budget-related information. All of our research - from our affordable housing and homeless info-graphic to our award winning study on minimum income - is also available on our site.
Special thanks to Ali Al-Sammarraie for updating the site!
Thank you very much,
Jen Budoff, Budget Director
A city’s budget document is more than a list of inscrutable numbers—it reflects the city’s priorities.
Each year during the annual budget oversight process, the Council of the District of Columbia invests in affordable housing and homeless services. These investments fund a variety of important programs in multiple agencies. Since these funds are spread across the government, it can be difficult to capture the full magnitude of D.C.’s commitment to affordable housing and homeless services.
The Office of the Budget Director assesses the District’s investments with the release of “The District’s Commitment to Affordable Housing.” This new infographic provides a comprehensive look at D.C.’s operating and capital budget investments in affordable housing and homeless services.
The infographic reveals that the District invests $840 million in programs to expand affordable housing and combat homelessness in the Fiscal Year 2020 budget. These investments include:
$310 million to homelessness prevention, programs targeted at youth, shelter and supportive services, and housing supports and services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness;
$245 million to build, maintain, and finance affordable housing units by supporting the Housing Production Trust Fund, funding repairs to public housing buildings, and other key initiatives;
$95 million in rental assistance to low-income residents through multiple programs, including tenant- and project-based vouchers, along with subsidies that help populations most in need, including seniors; and
$190 million of tax expenditures to promote homeownership and increase the supply of affordable housing across the city.
Over the past 15 years, the Council also invested $535 million through the capital budget to address housing affordability and homelessness. This funding has increased the supply of affordable housing, redeveloped or maintained thousands of public housing units, built new family shelters across the District, and provided shelter services for individuals experiencing homelessness.
The infographic is available here.
The Council of the District of Columbia will be considering an Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (ANS) for Bill 23-209, the “Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Support Act of 2019” (FY20 BSA) at tomorrow’s Legislative Meeting. Following are links to the ANS and Notice. It makes several revisions, as well as technical and clarifying changes developed with the Council’s Office of the Budget Director and Office of the General Counsel, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, and the Executive. The changes are described briefly below.
TITLE I. GOVERNMENT DIRECTION AND SUPPORT
Subtitle D. Council Employee Student Loan Repayment Assistance Act of 2019: New subtitle establishes a student loan repayment program for eligible post-secondary loan repayment assistance to Council employees who have been employed with any Council office for one or more years as of the fiscal year in which funds are appropriated for such purpose.
Subtitle E. Fair Elections and Campaign Finance Reform Amendment Act of 2019: New subtitle reflects the content of Bill 23-282, the Fair Elections Emergency Amendment Act of 2019, enacted on May 22, 2019 (D.C. Act 23-50; 66 DCR 6583); amends the applicability clause of the Campaign Finance Reform Amendment Act of 2018, effective March 13, 2019 (D.C. Law 22-250; 66 DCR 985) to clarify which provisions are subject to appropriations, allowing those provisions that do not have a fiscal impact take effect when the BSA is effective; and amends the Campaign Finance Reform Amendment Act of 2018 to adjust for those provisions that are still subject to appropriations (i.e. all references to the Campaign Finance Board have been changed back to OCF/the Director until the provisions relating to the Campaign Finance Board and pay-to-play are funded).
TITLE II. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND REGULATION
Subtitle B. Tax Increment Financing Amendment Act of 2019: Clarifies that only the Union Market Infrastructure Corporation and the owner of the retail parking project are required as signatories to any of the closing documents.
Subtitle J. Wage and Hour Education Grants Program Act of 2019: Adds the Minimum Wage Act Revision Act of 1992, effective March 25, 1993 (D.C. Law 9-248; D.C. Official Code § 32-1001 et seq.), to the list of laws that may be included in education workshops.
Subtitle L. Short-Term Rental Zoning Analysis Amendment Act of 2019: Prohibits the issuance of building permits to the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium site and Franklin Park until the Office of Planning provides its short-term rental analysis to the Office of Zoning.
Subtitle O. East End and Opportunity Youth Careers Amendment Act of 2019: Clarifies for which purpose a sub-subparagraph applies.
Subtitle P. D.C. Central Kitchen Grant Extension Amendment Act of 2019: Conforms the language to the funding provided in the Fiscal Year 2020 Local Budget Act of 2019 (FY20 LBA) and strikes reference to the Fiscal Year 2019 Revised Local Budget Emergency Adjustment Act of 2019, which no longer applies.
Subtitle Q. Walter Reed Development Omnibus Amendment Act of 2019: Clarifies which provisions of the Small and Certified Business Enterprise Development and Assistance Act of 2005 and the First Source Employment Agreement Act of 1984 apply.
Subtitle U. Commission on the Arts and Humanities Independence and Funding Restructuring Amendment Act of 2019: Makes several changes clarifying the independence of the Commission within the D.C. government; restores the appointment of the Chairperson to the Mayor, with the advice and consent of Council; and conforms the language of the Arts and Humanities Fund and the Title 47 tax dedication to the language of the FY20 LBA.
Subtitle V. Real Estate Guaranty and Education Fund Amendment Act of 2019: New subtitle amends the sources of the Fund to include amounts as may be appropriated and adds standard non-lapsing language.
Subtitle W. Historic Preservation Review Board Membership Clarification Amendment Act of 2019: Clarifies that members of the HPRB whose terms have expired are subject to the 180-day holdover limitation imposed under the Merit Systems Personnel Act.
Subtitle X. Funds for Ward 1 Public Housing Properties Amendment Act of 2019: New subtitle adds a requirement to the D.C. Housing Authority Rehabilitation and Maintenance Fund (R&M Fund) that in FY20 no less than $1 million be expended on the repair and maintenance of public housing properties located within the boundaries of Ward 1; prohibits R&M Fund spending on administrative and overhead costs not directly attributable to maintenance and repair projects; and amends the Adams Morgan Hotel Real Property Tax Abatement Act of 2010 to move the start of the abatement to no earlier than October 1, 2020.
Subtitle Y. Short-Term Rental Funding Act of 2019: New subtitle directs local fiscal year recurring revenues in the June 2019 and subsequent revenue estimates that exceed the annual revenue estimate incorporated in the FY20 budget and financial plan to fund the revenue loss attributed to the provisions of the Short-Term Rental Regulation Act. This is necessary because the CFO disregarded the Council’s direction to fund the purported revenue loss from previous quarterly revenue estimates.
TITLE III. PUBLIC SAFETY AND JUSTICE
Subtitle K. Emergency and Non-Emergency Number Telephone Calling Systems Fund Amendment Act of 2019: For balancing purposes, restores the 0.80 per night hotel tax that will fund the E911 Fund and expands the revenue sources of the Fund to include local appropriations, but this may be eliminated by a subsequent amendment if alternative sources of revenue are approved by the Council.
TITLE IV: PUBLIC EDUCATION
Subtitle A. Uniform Per Student Funding Formula for Public Schools and Public Charter Schools Increases: Corrects the rounding of amounts in the funding formula chart and adds language to direct $5.353 million of the Council’s increase to DCPS to the 31 schools that received funding cuts in the Mayor’s proposed budget.
Subtitle G. Student Fair Access to School Clarification Amendment Act of 2019: Strikes language to clarify the Department of Behavioral Health’s responsibilities.
Subtitle K. Self-Operated School Food Service Amendment Act of 2019: Consolidates the reporting requirements and makes minor clarifying changes.
Subtitle L. Truancy Prevention and Literacy Pilot: Updates the amount of two grants from $250,000 each to $300,000 each to reflect the funding in the FY20 LBA.
Subtitle O. Healthy Schools Funding Clarification Amendment Act of 2019: Amends the Healthy Schools Fund to include the increased dedicated taxes realized from subtitle VII-G, the Healthy Kids Revenue Amendment Act of 2019.
TITLE V. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Subtitle H. Department of Health Care Finance Grant-Making Amendment Act of 2019: Makes minor clarifying changes and changes the report due date for the medical respite grant.
Subtitle J. Not-for-Profit Hospital Corporation Fiscal Oversight and Transition Planning Amendment Act of 2019: Updates the funding amount for the hospital in FY20 to reflect the amount included in the FY20 LBA; makes related conforming and clarifying amendments; increases the control board from 7 to 9 members and includes 2 seats for union representation; and amends the certificate of need waiver requirements.
Subtitle K. D.C. Healthcare Alliance Reform Amendment Act of 2019: Strikes the D.C. Healthcare Recertification Pilot Program, as funding was removed by amendment at the second reading of the FY20 LBA.
Subtitle M. Leverage for Our Future Amendment Act of 2019: New subtitle establishes home visiting pilot program for income eligible first-time mothers through a Department of Health $150,000 competitive grant, which was funded in the FY20 LBA.
Subtitle N. Senior Strategic Plan Amendment Act of 2019: New subtitle amends Bill 22-686 (funded in the FY20 LBA) to add requirements to the strategic plan for consideration of the needs of senior District residents with disabilities that prevent them from caring for themselves and directs the agency to examine the needs of middle-income aged District residents who do not qualify for Medicaid but who also cannot afford to pay for long-term care out of pocket. Studies estimate that, nationally, the middle-income aged population will nearly double by 2029, and the District will need to proactively plan for how to ensure services for those residents.
Subtitle O. Birth-to-Three for All DC Amendment Act of 2019: Moves a responsibility from DOH to OSSE to reflect the correct implementing agency and the funding in the FY20 LBA, updates funding requirements to reflect funding in the FY20 LBA, and updates the applicability provision to remove sections that are now funded.
TITLE VI. TRANSPORTATION, PUBLIC WORKS, AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Subtitle E. Student, Foster Youth, Summer Youth Employee, and Adult Learner Transit Subsidies Act of 2019: Adds the word “regular” to modify the type of roundtrip Metrobus fare provided to an SYEP participant; this change was necessary to accommodate the level of funding provided in the FY20 LBA.
Subtitle L. Congestion Pricing Study Amendment Act of 2019: Includes a provision necessary for DDOT to have authority to spend the FY20 LBA funding and corrects the name of DC Surface Transportation.
Subtitle M. Lead Service Line Fund Amendment Act of 2019: New subtitle creates a non-lapsing fund for the amounts appropriated in the FY20 LBA for lead service line replacement.
TITLE VII. FINANCE AND REVENUE
Subtitle A. Keep Child Care Affordable Tax Credit Amendment Act of 2019: Makes technical and clarifying amendments, including a January 1, 2019 applicability, at the request of the OCFO.
Subtitle B. Keep Housing Affordable Increased Property Tax Relief Amendment Act of 2019: Makes several technical and clarifying changes, including a January 1, 2019 applicability, in concert with and at the request of the OCFO.
Subtitle C. Deed Recordation and Transfer Taxes Amendment Act of 2019: At the request of the OCFO, includes correct language for imposing a 1.05% surtax on the recordation of certain security interest instruments; this correction is necessary to achieve the funding incorporated in the FY19 LBA.
Subtitle D. Internet Sales Tax Revenue Amendment Act of 2019: Conforms the subtitle with the language included in Bill 23-205, the Fiscal Year 2019 Revised Local Budget Adjustment Act of 2019.
Subtitle F. Sports Wagering Revenue Amendment Act of 2019: Reverts the 2-block radius language in new section 306(e) to the language provided in the Committee on Finance and Revenue committee report.
Subtitle G. Healthy Kids Revenue Amendment Act of 2019: Corrects punctuation.
Subtitle H. Washington Parks & People Equitable Real Property Tax Relief Act of 2019: Clarifies through which month the relief extends.
Subtitle I. National Cherry Blossom Matching Grant Act of 2019: Updates the amount of the matching grant to match the funding in the FY20 LBA.
Subtitle J. Senior Residents Real Property Tax Cap Clarification Amendment Act of 2019: Restores a subsection that was inadvertently omitted in the committee print but that was included at the request of the OCFO by the Committee on Finance and Revenue in its report; the language ensures that the credit attributable to a senior is actually passed on to that senior’s household and not shared among the cooperative as a whole.
Subtitle L. Lease Assignment Authority Amendment Act of 2019: This subtitle is struck.
Subtitle M. Expenditure Commission Establishment Act of 2019: Clarifies the Commission’s purpose, scope, and authority.
Subtitle N. Nonprofit Workforce Housing Properties Real Property Tax Exemption Amendment Act of 2019: Adjusts the percentage of units and the income levels; clarifies when incomes are calculated; limits total rent paid for any individual unit to the Housing Choice Voucher Program submarket rent established annually by the D.C. Housing Authority; adds requirements for the indigency reserve; requires certification to the Department of Housing and Community Development and the Office of Tax and Revenue by an independent compliance monitor; expressly limits the tax exemption to the time the property owner remains eligible; and makes other clarifying changes.
Subtitle O. Subject-to-Appropriations Amendment Act of 2019: Adds other measures that were funded in the FY20 LBA.
Subtitle Q. Events DC Grant-Making Authority Amendment Act of 2019: Adds language regarding the availability of funds and that the Authority first satisfy current liabilities and legally required reserves, not to include the elective purchase or redemption of outstanding indebtedness; and directs any unobligated proceeds from the sale of the Marriot Marquis leasehold to be held by the Authority for large capital grants.
Subtitle R. Washington Convention Center and Sports Authority Unrestricted Reserves Amendment Act of 2019: This subtitle is struck.
Subtitle S. Downloading Lost Revenues Amendment Act of 2019: Removes the specific funding allocations as those were included directly in agency budgets on a recurring basis and makes a number of technical and clarifying changes at the request of the OCFO.
Subtitle T. Washington Convention Center and Sports Authority Excess Cash Amendment Act of 2019: Directs 50% of any excess revenue at the end of FY19 be transferred, in cash, to the DCHA Rehabilitation and Maintenance Fund for public housing repairs; and repeals section 3(1) of the Washington Convention Center Authority Dedicated Tax Revenue Bond Resolution of 1998, which authorized the Authority to retain three times the annual Operating and Marketing expenditures.
Subtitle U. Events DC Expenditure Authority Amendment Act of 2019: New subtitle prohibits Events DC from obligating or expending funds in FY19 or FY20 to purchase the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium or to induce a National Football League team to locate in the District; and requires Events DC to provide detailed information regarding its capital improvement plans.
TITLE VIII. SPECIAL PURPOSE AND DEDICATED REVENUE FUND AMENDMENTS AND TRANSFERS
Designated Fund Transfer: Strikes the sweeps in subsection (a) that were enacted on an emergency basis in the FY 2019 Revised Local Budget Emergency Adjustment Act of 2019; and updates subsections (a) and (b) to reflect the sweeps made in the FY20 LBA.
TITLE IX. CAPITAL BUDGET
Fiscal Year 2020 Capital Project Reallocation Approval Act of 2019: This subtitle is struck because it was enacted on an emergency basis in the FY 2019 Revised Local Budget Emergency Adjustment Act of 2019.
Thanks much,
Jen Budoff, Budget Director
On June 3, 2019, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government marked up the federal appropriations bill that includes the District of Columbia. The proposed measure is historic – for the first time the bill fully respects budget autonomy by leaving out any appropriations of our local funds. The subcommittee bill also lets the District govern itself by not including budget riders that previously limited local spending (including spending local funds on abortion and marijuana regulation).
For more information, please click here.
The Council will consider an move an amendment in the nature of a substitute (ANS) for each of the following measures at the Additional Legislative Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, May 28, 2019:
PR 23-195, the Fiscal Year 2019 Revised Local Budget Adjustment Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2019
Bill 23-205, the Fiscal Year 2019 Revised Local Budget Emergency Adjustment Act of 2019
Bill 23-206, the Fiscal Year 2019 Revised Local Budget Temporary Adjustment Act of 2019
The ANS for the emergency and temporary bills includes several technical changes developed in concert with the Council’s Office of the General Counsel, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, and the Executive. In addition, the following changes were made:
Various adjustments to agency budgets in FY 2019 as requested by the Mayor or as incorporated into the Fiscal Year 2020 Budget and Financial Plan as approved by the Council at first reading on May 14, 2019.
Capital project reallocations and designated fund transfers as previously included in the Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Support Act of 2019, approved by the Council at first reading on May 14, 2019. These provisions are now included in this bill to ensure that they take effect expeditiously.
The ANS for PR 23-195 simply revises that emergency declaration resolution in light of the changes made to the underlying emergency bill.
The Council will consider an amendment in the nature of a substitute (ANS) for Bill 23-208, the “Fiscal Year 2020 Local Budget Act of 2019” at the Additional Legislative Meeting scheduled on Tuesday, May 28, 2019. The ANS makes several revisions and clarifying changes to the legislation, in addition to technical fixes developed in concert with the Council’s Office of the Budget Director, the Office of the General Counsel, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, and the Executive.
The ANS changes the sweep of a portion of the unrestricted reserves of the Washington Convention and Sports Authority (Events DC). At first reading, the “Fiscal Year 2020 Local Budget Act of 2019” took $60 million from the unrestricted reserves and distributed them equally to: (1) contribute to the Public Housing Authority's critical need for maintenance to keep (or make) more units available to low income residents; and (2) avoid the Mayor's proposed $0.80 per room or suite per night tax on hotels. The attached amendment in the nature of a substitute revises this amount downward to $49 million but maintains the use as adopted at first reading. It is important for members to realize that the Chief Financial Officer disagrees with this action – both at the $60 and $49 million levels. However, since first reading the Chariman has worked with our General Counsel, the Attorney General, and others to confirm the CFO's interpretation of the law and bond documents governing the Convention Center Authority. The opinion and advice that we have received is contrary to the CFO and Events DC, which is that the Council does have the authority to use some portion of the unrestricted reserves for other appropriations. The most conservative advice is reflected in the ANS. The CFO may continue to dispute this action.
The ANS for Bill 23-208 also includes:
Operating budget changes:
Restores $7,500,000 to the Housing Preservation Fund in the Department of Housing and Community Development
Funds the “Rental Housing Commission Independence Clarification Act of 2018”
Increases $49,000,000 in Non-Departmental to be directed from the Washington Convention and Sports Authority (also known as Events DC) to the D.C. Housing Authority’s Public Housing Modernization Fund and the Office of Unified Communications E-911 Fund and be used to repeal the “Emergency and Non-Emergency Number Telephone Calling Systems Funding Amendment Act of 2019”
Makes other minor, conforming, and technical changes
Capital budget changes:
$35,000,000 for Saint Elizabeths Medical Center shifted from FY21 to FY20 to accelerate hospital master site and infrastructure requirements planning, design and construction of an access road for the new shelter, and construction of a public parking garage to serve the Medical Center and the Entertainment and Sports Arena
$22,000,000 for replacement of the 801 East Men’s Shelter and shift from FY20 to FY19
$53,000,000 for Banneker High School modernization/renovation to restore the proposed $141,783,300 budget and shift $2,251,536 from FY21 to FY19
Makes other minor, conforming, and technical changes
Narrative changes:
Clarifies language in the Commission of Arts and Humanities regarding dedicated taxes
Restores language inadvertently omitted in the committee print in the Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants outlining the programs receiving funding through the Access to Justice Initiative
Adds language in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education regarding the WIC grant to DC Central Kitchen
Adds the Parking Meter Pay-by-Phone Transaction Fee Fund in the Department of Transportation, at the request of the Mayor
The proposed Fiscal Year 2020 Budget and Financial Plan makes significant investments in the areas of housing, education, and early childhood supports. You will find a comprehensive summary of all the Council’s modifications to the budget in the Local Budget Act (LBA) report; I recommend that you begin your review with that document. All budget documents are posted at www.dccouncilbudget.com/fiscal-year-2020-budget.
The Council offers $13.6 million in enhancements to fund a 3.0% UPSFF increase and a 0.225 at-risk student weight in FY 2020.
The Council is dedicated to expanding and coordinating access to early childhood services and supports, with special attention to equitable access to opportunity regardless of race, ethnicity, or zip code. In the FY 2020 budget, the Council proudly builds upon its prior investments and directs $8.5 million to partially fund the “Birth-to-Three for All DC Act of 2018.”
The Council continues its investments in the Cure the Streets program with an enhancement of $3.9 million in FY 2020. Further, the Council enables the OAG to capture an additional $3 million per fiscal year in its non-lapsing Litigation Support Fund for crime prevention purposes.
The Council dedicates $20.5 million in housing and housing supports, including $7.9 million to create approximately 389 new units of housing for extremely low-income families and individuals through the D.C. Housing Authority’s Local Rent Supplement Program (LRSP). The Council is proud to make this critical investment while preserving the integrity of the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF). The Council was able to achieve this important goal without redirecting any dedicated taxes or funds from HPTF.
The Council shifts the closing of the United Medical Center to January 2023, ensuring residents of the East End continue to have access to hospital care. Additionally, the Council includes labor protections to ensure our workforce is not adversely affected by UMC’s closure.
The Council includes funding for an Expenditure Commission, modeled on the well-regarded Tax Revision Commission, to review and analyze the District’s current budget structure and its expenditures for the current and previous 5 fiscal years, and make recommendations for improving the District’s budget.
In addition to these highlights, the LBA report describes the significant changes that the Council made to the Mayor’s proposed budget and explains how these adjustments make the District a better place for its residents and businesses.
Finally, I just wanted to give a special thanks to the outstanding team in the Budget Office: Angela Joyner, Anne Phelps, Joe Wolfe, Averil Carraway, Jason Kim and Susanna Groves. Without them, there would be no budget.
As always, my staff and I are available to answer any questions you may have. Thank you again for your assistance and support,
Jen Budoff
All councilmembers will be meeting in Room 502 today to discuss the FY2020 budget. The meeting will be broadcast on Channel 13 and a copy of the presentation can be found here.
The all Councilmember work session will be held tomorrow, Wednesday May 8, 2019 at 10am in Room 502. The PowerPoint presentation will be posted on this website at 10am on Wednesday morning.
Hello - All Council Committees will be marking up their budget reports this week. We will post the draft reports as they are circulated at https://www.dccouncilbudget.com/fiscal-year-2020-budget.
COMMITTEE MARK-UP SCHEDULE
TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2019; COUNCIL CHAMBER (Room 500)
POSTPONED TO 5/2/19: 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Committee on Health
CANCELLED: 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Committee on Recreation and Youth Affairs
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Committee on Facilities and Procurement
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Committee on Government Operations
WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2019; COUNCIL CHAMBER (Room 500)
10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Committee on Business and Economic Development
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Committee on Human Services
1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Committee on Finance and Revenue
2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Committee on Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization
4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Committee on Labor and Workforce Development
THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2019; COUNCIL CHAMBER (Room 500)
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Committee on Transportation and the Environment
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Committee on the Judiciary
POSTPONED TO 3:00 p.m.: 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Committee on Health
2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Committee on the Education
NEW TIME: 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Committee on Health
4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Committee of the Whole
Happy Budget Day! The Budget Office has been posting resources on our website and will continue to post as documents become available. We hope that you will use our site as one-stop shopping to find everything you need to navigate the next 70 days.
Three pages to visit regularly:
1. Under the Budget Formulation and Approval tab, there is a page called Fiscal Year 2020 Budget. This page has/will have links to the official documents related to the FY 2020 budget, including the Local Budget Act, the Budget Support Act and the Budget Books.
2. Under the Budget Guidance tab, there is a page called Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Toolkit for Council Staff. This page contains the documents the Budget Office creates for Council staff, such as a spreadsheet of the proposed capital improvements plan and a description of the provisions in the President’s FY 2020 budget that impact the District.
3. Finally, under the Interactive Dashboards tab, there is a FY 2020 Proposed Budget Dashboard that provides very simple visualizations of the proposed budget by agency and funding source. We will be posting additional dashboards that get into the nitty gritty of the budget in the coming days.
We will be regularly updating these pages – and the entire site – with useful information. We look forward to spending a lot of time with you over these next 70 days!!
Thanks again, Jen Budoff
Hello!
On March 11, 2019, the White House released the President’s proposed FY20 budget, which includes federal payments to the District and a number of budget “riders” – prohibitions on how the District can spend certain funds. Although it is unlikely to be enacted as proposed, the President’s budget is the first step in the federal appropriations process. It also provides the basis for the Fiscal Year 2020 Federal Portion Budget Request Act of 2019, which is included in the Mayor’s FY20 budget transmittal to Council.
The President’s FY20 Proposed Budget: Provisions Impacting the District highlights the federal payments included in the proposal, as well as other elements affecting the District’s autonomy and authority.
Please note that federal payments are just a tiny part of the District’s $14.5 billion budget. Local dollars -- $11 billion -- account for 76.3 percent of the District’s total budget. Most of the rest — $3.4 billion or 23.4 percent — is federal formula spending that includes Medicaid and federal grants available to all jurisdictions. Overall, approximately 99.7 percent of the District’s budget is derived from local revenue and federal grants not unique to the District. The remainder, one third of 1 percent of the budget, comes from federal payments specifically requested for programs or projects unique to the District.
Thanks much, Jen Budoff
The Council of the District of Columbia’s Office of the Budget Director is pleased to issue a new policy brief on Keeping the Clean Rivers Impervious Area Charge (CRIAC) Affordable and Equitable: Nine Strategies for Managing the CRIAC’s Cost While Ensuring the Clean River Project’s Financial Viability. This report was prepared at the request of Councilmember Mary Cheh and Chairman Phil Mendelson.
D.C. Water’s Clean Rivers Project is an infrastructure initiative aimed at reducing 96% of the District of Columbia’s combined sewer overflows by 2030. The project is federally mandated, but the costs have largely fallen on District utility customers through a fee called the CRIAC. This policy brief examines nine strategies that the D.C. Council could take to reduce the financial strain that the CRIAC has placed on ratepayers while ensuring that the infrastructure project is adequately funded.
Protect financially vulnerable utility customers by extending the CRIAC Residential & Nonprofit Relief Programs
Alter the CRIAC rate structure to include a water and sewer volumetric component
Increase progressivity by subjecting public rights-of-way to the CRIAC
Promote green solutions by raising the value of CRIAC Incentive Program
Lower customers’ costs by reducing or eliminating D.C. government’s pass-through fees from D.C. Water’s monthly bills
Ensure that the Blue Plains Intermunicipal Agreement requires all jurisdictions pay their fair share
Lobby Congress for regular and significant support from the federal government to solve a problem that it helped create
Improve accountability by re-examining D.C. Water’s governance structure
Reduce ratepayer costs by re-negotiating the Consent Decree
Some of the choices would provide immediate relief, while others have the potential to address the underlying challenge of providing clean and affordable water and sewer services but would take many years to implement. Several of them are entirely within the control of the District government; others require participation from regional partners or the federal government. Each of these proposals offers benefits and trade-offs.
We drew together these options by consulting D.C. Council, agency staff, and stakeholders; considering choices made by other jurisdictions; and conducting a literature review. The authors selected these policy proposals because they would raise enough revenue to meet the Consent Decree’s terms, promote an equitable funding scheme, incentivize stormwater retention, protect the CRIAC’s legal status as a fee, and be easily understood and feasible to implement.
We will present this report to Councilmembers at a Legislative Breakfast and hold staff briefings. We would be happy to schedule individual meetings with Councilmembers or their staff to review the report’s findings.
Thank you very much! Jen Budoff
Policy & Economic Research in the Office of the Budget Director
The Office of the Budget Director conducts policy and economic research for the D.C. Council. It produces issue briefs on matters of ongoing concern and releases in-depth reports on substantial policy and legislative matters. The Office has previously published two Economic and Policy Impact Statements that examine providing a minimum income and paid family and medical leave. We invite you to visit our website at www.dccouncilbudget.com to learn more.
Good Morning: As we head into budget season, please bookmark www.dccouncilbudget.com and use it as your central resource to find all things budget-related.
Under the Budget Formulation & Approval menu you will be able to find an overview of the process, all of the key FY20 budget documents in one place (see the FY19 page for last year’s documents) and regularly updated hearing schedules.
Under the Budget Guidance menu, click on Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Toolkit for Council Staff to find documents and links to resources we hope will help you navigate this year’s budget season. We will be updating this page regularly with new resources so be sure to check back often.
We sincerely hope these tools are helpful to you. We want to make things better and easier – please send us your comments and suggestions on how we can improve our site for you.
Thanks again! Jen Budoff
Good Morning: On Monday we launched our new website www.dccouncilbudget.com and yesterday we sent out our first tweet from @dccouncilbudget (thanks to our first 147 followers as of 9:39 am). Today we encourage you to take a look at the pilot, interactive dashboards featured on our website. We created these dashboards with the goal of increasing transparency while reducing the difficulty of understanding agencies’ budgets and expenditures. We chose DCPS and DOES for our pilot launch, and plan to add others in the future.
These dashboards include data visualizations on budget, expenditures, vendors, human resources, and programmatic data in a streamlined manner. For example, you can now review individual schools’ information between FY2015 – FY2018 in just one click. Also, these dashboards include data on budget changes (increases and decreases) throughout the fiscal years by each month. This should reflect all budget modifications and reprogrammings for all fund types.
We sincerely hope these tools are helpful to you. We want to make things better and better – please send us your comments and suggestions on how we can improve our site for you.
Thank you! Jen Budoff
We sincerely hope that you will find our website to a be a useful tool. We plan to update it regularly, and new content will be developed over time to further support Councilmembers and their staff. Over the next few weeks, we will be sending emails to members and staff that will delve deeper into the various resources on the site.
We want your input on making this website better – we built it for you! Please send us your comments or suggestions. We look forward to your ideas, recommendations, and suggestions. Please direct any inquires here.
@dccouncilbudget
Thank you! Jen Budoff
