Dear Ward 5 neighbors,
The District is facing numerous, serious financial challenges. Our revenue estimates across the four-year financial plan show a revision downward by more than $600 million. We are trailing national performance in GDP, employment, population, and income growth. Employment is down 5.1% with losses across both major private sectors and federal downsizing. And the housing market is weakening even further with significant drops in home sales and high interest rates.
The gap between the District’s revenue and our spending continues to widen. This past budget cycle, the Council approved $660 million in one-time spending to cover that gap and maintain critical programs for District residents like housing support, food access, healthcare, and more. But this raises the question—what do we do when we are confronted with an even bigger budget gap next year?
There are, of course, two options: increase revenue or reduce spending. I’m of the mind that we can do both. Anytime we propose increasing taxes, we should take it very seriously and be careful to mindfully cut unnecessary spending at the same time. Today, the Council held a public hearing on one of these topics, with testimony from dozens of witnesses on revenue proposals for the FY28 budget.
