District services taking a hit in Fenty’s budget proposal
By: Michael Neibauer
Examiner Staff Writer
March 24, 2009
In addition to slashing jobs and raising a host of fees, Mayor Adrian Fenty’s fiscal 2010 budget proposal also suggests service and spending cuts that are likely to affect the quality of life of D.C. residents.
“This year we will have to make some hugely difficult decisions that will impact people no matter what we do,” D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray said Monday during a budget hearing.
It is the administration’s job, Fenty told the council, to “do more for less” as it attempts to close an $800 million shortfall. The $5.4 billion budget submission is 3.9 percent lower than the current spending plan, which it accomplishes in part through more than 1,600 job cuts, new fees, fee increases and service reductions.
The budget promises that cuts in the D.C. Public Schools, Metropolitan Police, and Fire and Emergency Medical Services departments will have a negligible effect on core services. But there are proposed reductions — all must be approved by the council — that surely will be felt.
The Department of Motor Vehicles, for example, will shift to an online and mail-in-only system for vehicle registration renewals, allowing the agency to shut down the Brentwood Service Center in Northeast for a $1.65 million savings.
The Department of Health will pare plans to increase the number of schools with nurses, saving $500,000. School crossing guards under the Department of Transportation will work three-hour shifts instead of the current four, saving $527,000. The Department of Employment Services will reduce apprenticeship and training subsidies by $300,000.
The Department of Public Works will cut 40 solid waste management staff, curtailing street and alley cleaning services. It will slash 37 positions in bulk collections, delaying pickups from 10 to 14 days on average. And it will cut Household Hazardous Waste and Shred-It from two sites to one.
The Department of Corrections, meanwhile, will expand an existing early release program to inmates who merely participate in — rather than complete — educational and vocational programs. The good conduct program cuts up to five days a month from an inmate’s sentence. The DOC expects fewer inmates to save it upward of $11 million.
“It’s a concern, but I don’t want to say it’s a bad idea,” said Councilman Phil Mendelson, chairman of the public safety committee. “The idea of encouraging participation in these programs is a good thing. But if it’s just about releasing felons early, well, I don’t know.”
