Less than two months into the 2012 fiscal year, I was already hearing projections indicating some agencies were overspending. That was troubling. Mayor Vincent C. Gray had identified financial stability as a key area for his administration. But the Department of Employment Services was having what finance officials euphemistically call “spending pressures” because of an uptick in unemployment compensation claims. The Department of Corrections was predicting an increase in its population. The General Services Agency, created through consolidation of more than five agencies, was morphing into a budget buster — not a budget saver — according to Wilson Building sources.
Further, the D.C. Public Schools faced a $6.5 million deficit, instigated partly by the loss of a federal grant. The Board of Elections and Ethics hadn’t budgeted for the upcoming election and was short by $1 million — as was the Office of the Chief Technology Officer.
