D.C. Mayor Vince Gray has ordered a sweeping freeze in city spending on contractual services, supplies, equipment and other areas not related to spending on personnel.
The order, obtained by The Washington Examiner, was issued Wednesday. It exempts the D.C. Council, the public charter schools, and more than two dozen other city agencies that operate outside the mayor’s control. It includes D.C. schools, and the police and fire departments.
The order is meant to reign in overspending by city agencies that is projected to reach $70 million by the end of the fiscal year.
A source in the mayor’s office told The Examiner that spending on key services will continue, but the order requires that agencies send requests for spending on items listed in the order to the mayor’s office for approval. Some services that would be hit by freeze, like the Summer Youth Employment, are likely to get categorical approval for spending so they can continue to operate, the source said.
The freeze will cut down on agencies spending on new items like uniforms, office supplies and other purchases that are often made by departments that have extra cash in their budgets at the end of the fiscal year. The 2011 fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.
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