Mayor Adrian Fenty’s recent call for millions of dollars to shore up several government programs, and a coming request for millions more to guarantee the sale of Greater Southeast Community Hospital, means poring through the budget book and finding free-floating cash.
So far, so good, the mayor and his aides say. Fenty has had no problems pinpointing the money he needs to continue funding the D.C. Healthcare Alliance, or make basic repairs at the city’s schools, or buy artwork for the new Washington Nationals’ stadium.
The grand total for those initiatives: $138 million over the coming year.
The recent spending surge has some D.C. officials concerned.
“I think that it’s a question of priorities,” said D.C. Council Member Phil Mendelson said. “The money’s being taken from something and I expressed at the time of the budget that this government is spending too much.”
But Fenty and his budget team said Friday not to worry, there are savings to be found everywhere. Money can be shifted from unspent agency allocations. Fixed costs, such as rent, can be reined in. Some programs can be delayed. And the city can change its borrowing patterns to save money on interest payments.
“We committed early on in our administration to finding savings,” Fenty said Friday. “And our agency directors are working very hard to root out waste and that’s how we want to fund our priorities and our enhancements, rather than trying to increase taxes.”
The largest chunk of the $138 million, $120 million, is slated for basic maintenance and repairs in DCPS facilities. Of that, $12 million is coming from contingency reserves, $5 million from finished capital project funds, and the rest from next year’s school modernization budget.
Shifting $17 million into the Healthcare Alliance, the increasingly expensive health insurance program for low-income D.C. residents, required redirecting money from numerous health department programs. In an Aug. 20 letter to Council Chairman Vincent Gray, Fenty said none of the Alliance-related reprogrammings “will have an adverse impact on any program …”
As for Greater Southeast, the proposed sale could demand upward of $27 million from the District to pay off Envision’s many unpaid vendor bills, square an Envision debt with the city and provide new equipment for the troubled facility. City leaders are debating whether to dip into the $200 million national tobacco settlement fund to lock up the hospital deal.
