Mayor Vince Gray won’t veto a D.C. Council-approved budget simply because it lacks his proposal to raise the income tax rate for the wealthy, a source close to Gray told The Washington Examiner.
The veto pen would only come out if the budget the council passes steers away from Gray’s priorities to reform the city’s special education system, add dollars to the schools budget and maintain funding for public safety agencies, the source said.
Gray has also quietly told council members he’d like to see full funding for homeless services after he cut $19 million in his original budget proposal, council and administration sources said.
The mayor has also expressed interest to council members in raising the police force to 3,900 officers by September 2012 by using dollars from an expected jump in revenue projections scheduled to come out next month. The police department currently has about 3,850 officers and Chief Cathy Lanier has said it could be “trouble” if the force falls below 3,800. Gray’s original propsal would have added about 120 officers, but that would not have kept pace with attrition. The department is losing about 15 officers a month to retirement.
