The D.C. Council on Tuesday approved the District’s $5.6 billion fiscal 2008 local budget, reducing property and income taxes, rejecting an increase to the 911 emergency phone fee and earmarking millions of dollars for outside groups.
“I believe the budget package before us today benefits every person in every ward of the city,” Council Chairman Vincent Gray said. “The budget seeks to address some of the most difficult human needs that we must confront in our city [and we] must continue to strive to come together as one city.”
The spending plan totals $9 billion, including federal funds, and represents a 9 percent increase over the current year. It includes $500 million for the police department, $180 million for fire and emergency medical services and $1 billion for D.C. Public Schools, which soon will be under the control of Mayor Adrian Fenty.
And, council members said, the budget focuses tax relief among the populations that need it most.
“We won,” Council Member Phil Mendelson said. “The people won.”
The Homestead Deduction — a tax break for homeowners — was raised from $60,000 to $64,000, and the standard income tax deduction was increased from $2,500 to $4,000. A proposal to cap property assessments at 5 percent was dropped, as was a tax break for large estates.
For the fifth consecutive year, the executive’s effort to double the emergency 911 phone fee failed. Another of Fenty’s proposals, to have individual agencies pay for contracting and personnel, also was rejected.
Legislators, at Ward 8 Council Member Marion Barry’s behest, set aside $10 million for job-training programs by halving a proposed increase in the personal income tax exemption. They also allocated $6.5 million for repairs to the fire-ravaged Georgetown Library and Eastern Market, $11 million for small-business tax relief and $1.5 million for the Glover Park streetscape plan.
Also, dozens of groups will receive millions of dollars in earmarks, from the Tudor Place Historic House and the Lincoln Theater to Cultural Tourism D.C. and the Caribbean Festival.
The budget support act, which includes statutory changes required to enact the spending plan, will be voted on again in June. The coming fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
