District residents will soon find out the final details of the deep cuts and likely tax increases they’ll face as the city moves to close a $188 million budget gap. As of Thursday, much of the gap-closing measures were still up in the air. But they are likely to be finalized by Tuesday when the D.C. Council is scheduled to vote on a plan to fix the budget. Earlier this week, several council members indicated they supported tax increases, although they differed on the details. Mayor-elect Vincent Gray has repeatedly said he wants to cut the budget before he’ll consider any revenue increases. He has also said he wants to save $50 million on top of the $188 million shortfall to help offset an expected $350 million budget gap in the next fiscal year.
Mayor Adrian Fenty has sent down to the council a proposal for across-the-board program and service cuts. Among the programs hardest hit are social services meant to help the poor, budget analysts say. Grandparents who care for their children’s children could potentially lose half the $9,000 annual subsidy they receive from the city. If that happens, their grandchildren could end up in the foster care system — where the city will pay $46,000 each year to care for them. The budget for recruiting new police officers would also take a hit, causing the District’s police force to shrink by 200 officers as members retire.
Fenty’s budget proposals are serving as the focal point for private, one-on-one meetings Gray is holding with council members as the mayor-elect serves out the final weeks in his role as council chairman. At least six members met with Gray on Thursday and others are scheduled to meet with him on Friday. Sources said much of each meeting is spent discussing the programs council members want to save, where they would make cuts and whether they support a tax increase. Gray reportedly says little of his own plans.
The council is expected to gather on Monday for a public meeting in which members are likely to hammer out the details of a tax increase. In the end, though, it will be Gray and his staff who develop the final plan, and that may not be in councilmembers’ hands until early Tuesday morning.
