D.C. Council Chair Vincent Gray said Monday he’s concerned that the chief financial officer’s $9.2 billion budget could create a $40 million deficit.
Mayor Adrian Fenty and Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi submitted a budget Friday that failed to fund two District agencies — the Office of Personnel and the Office of Contract and Procurement — and instead relieson revenues from fees the two agencies would charge other District departments.
The baseline budget is the CFO’s recommended bare minimum spending before any adjustments proposed by the mayor.
But Gray said the budget doesn’t include money for the other departments to pay for the services, essentially handing the council an unbalanced budget.
“How in the world did it happen?” Gray asked. “You have 19 eyes looking at this. This is a big deal. You’ve got a credibility issue here on the guy who is our CFO.”
CFO spokeswoman Maryann Young said the budget is balanced. The deficit would occur only if the council does not enact the mayor’s proposed fee initiatives.
Council Member Phil Mendelson said the requirement of the District’s agencies to pay for personnel and procurement services was essentially an unfunded mandate.
“We’ve been given a budget that says MPD’s been given money for one, two, three and four, but not for five,” Mendelson said. “So they’re actually being funded with less.”
Because the budget has now been formally submitted, the only way to fix the shortfall would be through amendments, Gray said.
Gray also said he was concerned that the budget inappropriately included a fee for the city’s 911 service that the council would first need to vote on.
“The CFO does not create policy,” Gray said.
Staff writer Michael Neibauer contributed to this story.
