The D.C. Council on Tuesday came close to passing Mayor Adrian Fenty’s proposed increases for more than 600 fees and fines — including a tenfold increase for some driving tickets — before having second thoughts and telling the mayor to do it himself.
“If you want to nickel-and-dime residents … then take full responsibility for it,” said Councilman Phil Mendelson, D-at large.
Fenty proposed more than $7.5 million worth of fee and fine increases effective June 1 to close a budget gap in the fiscal year that ends in September. The increases are wide-ranging and include higher fees for businesses and nonprofits as well as raising the fines for 71 vehicle citations.
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» D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty announced the appointment of Jesus Aguirre to head the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation. Aguirre has been serving as interim director. Last October the City Council voted 7-5 to reject Fenty’s previous pick for the job, Ximena Hartsock. Fenty abruptly fired the previous director, Clark Ray, last spring.
Tickets for passing a stopped school bus with its lights flashing would jump from $50 to $500. Driving with a headlight out would climb from $25 to $75. And tickets for following a car too closely would rise to $100 from $25. The council spent the better part of a hour decrying the increases as “onerous” and “odious” but indicating its preference for the increase in lieu of budget cuts. With only a quarter of the fiscal year left, Council Chairman Vincent Graysaid trying to find $7.5 million in cuts would lead to “devastation” of city services.
Grayis challenging Fenty for mayor in this year’s election. The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Council members appeared willing to hold their noses and approve the politically unpopular increases before Councilman Kwame Brown, D-at large, asked why the council had to approve them instead of the mayor. After the council’s attorney said Fenty could likely enact the increases himself “with the stroke of a pen,” the council voted unanimously to table Fenty’s emergency legislation.
Not every council member appeared ready to approve the fee increases. Councilman Jack Evans, D-Ward 2, said the fees and fines were de facto tax increases that the city’s residents and businesses can’t afford.
Evans said the city should consider furloughs for city employees instead of increasing fees and fines. Forcing all city employees to take one day of unpaid leave would save the city $7 million, Evans said.
Furloughs have become a common tool for governments to save money; wealthy Montgomery County is considering forcing some of its employees to take up to 10 days of furloughs.
