“Opaque.” That word was used consistently by many D.C. Council committees to describe Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s 2014 budget. Legislators may have made their way through the voluminous document, but they screamed for more transparency.

An obscure plan makes it difficult for the council to effectively challenge budget assumptions used by the mayor and Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi. It also prevents District taxpayers from fully understanding how their $7 billion is being used to finance the local budget.