D.C. Council approves $9.4b budget

“Our No. 1 objective was to ensure the residents of the District of Columbia had government resources to help move the city forward,” Council Chairman Kwame Brown said. “This council is well prepared to continue to be fiscally responsible, but at the same time protect the interests of those who sent us here.”

In a written statement, Mayor Vincent Gray praised lawmakers for approving a budget that didn’t include tax hikes.

Although lawmakers tinkered with the mayor’s budget throughout a review process that lasted more than two months, Gray largely secured the fiscal plan that he sought, including many of his fixes to close a $172 million shortfall.

One of Gray’s chief deficit antidotes — a massive expansion of the traffic cameras that generate tickets for motorists who speed or run red lights — cleared the council, though several lawmakers have expressed fears that area residents are overburdened with fines and fees.

The new cameras will not come online until at least October, the start of the city’s fiscal year.

Lawmakers also signed off on a plan to allow District bars and nightclubs longer hours for alcohol sales, a change that will raise millions of dollars for the city.

Lawmakers chose to enact far narrower changes than Gray sought, but bars will be allowed to sell alcohol until 4 a.m. on District and federal holidays. Legislators also voted to allow for lengthened sales throughout select holiday weekends.

The measure will allow bars to be open longer on 19 nights next year, but the figure will change each year, council officials said.

Even the diluted version of Gray’s proposal frustrated Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham, who represents several of the District’s nightlife hubs, including Adams Morgan.

“There’s still going to be some very serious spillover effects,” said Graham, who warned that the Metro system would be shuttered by the time bars closed on nights with later hours.

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