DC Councilmember floats 3 percent tax increase on everyone

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The individuals teaching the “learn to ride a bike class” offered by DC make $250 an HOUR. I am friends with one.

It will surprise no one that this $250 an hour teacher is an activist with WABA

Wow, someone who is passionate about biking, teaches kids how to ride safely is a member of WABA? Wow, that is breaking news. Next you are going to tell me that teachers are members of teaching unions. Say it ain't so.

(hint, where else are you going to find people who are willing to have a very part time job for a few hours a week or month without compensating them well?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I may have missed it if someone posted it, but it looks like it's a tax on non-wage income over a certain amount:

"a 2 percent tax on the nonwage income of D.C. residents making over $200,000 a year ($250,000 for joint filers). Based on the federal Net Investment Income Tax, the new levy would cover not just capital gains and dividends, but also interest, rental income, royalties and annuities."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/06/08/dc-council-will-vote-tax-hikes-that-would-punish-working-families/

This does not seem completely unreasonable to me, contrary to the contention of the op-ed.

Total spending by the DC government has gone up 30 percent in five years. Maybe they could just spend slightly less?

I'm always up for spending more efficiently, but if the government cuts programs like PreK and transit then I just have to pay more out of pocket. Some things are better done collectively.

We've had those programs since forever. That's not what we're talking about.

Then what? Paid family leave? I'm good with that too. What are you proposing to cut?

I get it if you disagree with the programs, but just saying that DC is spending more than 20 years ago is not the dunk you think it is.

No one said anything about 20 years. A 30 percent increase in spending in five years is *astounding*.

Have you been following inflation and cost of living and cost of materials? government buys from the same sources as everyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I may have missed it if someone posted it, but it looks like it's a tax on non-wage income over a certain amount:

"a 2 percent tax on the nonwage income of D.C. residents making over $200,000 a year ($250,000 for joint filers). Based on the federal Net Investment Income Tax, the new levy would cover not just capital gains and dividends, but also interest, rental income, royalties and annuities."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/06/08/dc-council-will-vote-tax-hikes-that-would-punish-working-families/

This does not seem completely unreasonable to me, contrary to the contention of the op-ed.

Total spending by the DC government has gone up 30 percent in five years. Maybe they could just spend slightly less?

I'm always up for spending more efficiently, but if the government cuts programs like PreK and transit then I just have to pay more out of pocket. Some things are better done collectively.

We've had those programs since forever. That's not what we're talking about.

Then what? Paid family leave? I'm good with that too. What are you proposing to cut?

I get it if you disagree with the programs, but just saying that DC is spending more than 20 years ago is not the dunk you think it is.

Why does the city own an entire fleet of Rivians? The government says it is "aware" of owning at least 56 of them. The cheapest model starts at $73,000 each. The most expensive model starts at $124,000 each. Why is the city buying one of the most expensive pickup trucks sold in the United States? Fords cost $36,000 new.

Plugging fleet vehicles in and being charged with city owned solar is a lot cheaper than buying gas., so the up front costs are higher, but the payback is more than economical, if you run the numbers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The individuals teaching the “learn to ride a bike class” offered by DC make $250 an HOUR. I am friends with one.

It will surprise no one that this $250 an hour teacher is an activist with WABA

Take home pay is $250 an hour? Or they get paid $250 for one hour of instruction that covers travel, setup, etc.?

I love WABA but I'd agree that should be competitively bid if we're overpaying. But context first.

It is competitively bid. the city puts out RFP's for these services. When you make ignorant statements suggesting otherwise, it undercuts your arguments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I may have missed it if someone posted it, but it looks like it's a tax on non-wage income over a certain amount:

"a 2 percent tax on the nonwage income of D.C. residents making over $200,000 a year ($250,000 for joint filers). Based on the federal Net Investment Income Tax, the new levy would cover not just capital gains and dividends, but also interest, rental income, royalties and annuities."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/06/08/dc-council-will-vote-tax-hikes-that-would-punish-working-families/

This does not seem completely unreasonable to me, contrary to the contention of the op-ed.

Total spending by the DC government has gone up 30 percent in five years. Maybe they could just spend slightly less?

I'm always up for spending more efficiently, but if the government cuts programs like PreK and transit then I just have to pay more out of pocket. Some things are better done collectively.

We've had those programs since forever. That's not what we're talking about.

Then what? Paid family leave? I'm good with that too. What are you proposing to cut?

I get it if you disagree with the programs, but just saying that DC is spending more than 20 years ago is not the dunk you think it is.

Why does the city own an entire fleet of Rivians? The government says it is "aware" of owning at least 56 of them. The cheapest model starts at $73,000 each. The most expensive model starts at $124,000 each. Why is the city buying one of the most expensive pickup trucks sold in the United States? Fords cost $36,000 new.

Plugging fleet vehicles in and being charged with city owned solar is a lot cheaper than buying gas., so the up front costs are higher, but the payback is more than economical, if you run the numbers.

The cars will pay for themselves over the course of the next 3,000 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The individuals teaching the “learn to ride a bike class” offered by DC make $250 an HOUR. I am friends with one.

It will surprise no one that this $250 an hour teacher is an activist with WABA

Most of WABA's annual budget comes from the DC government. If they had to live off contributions from real people, they would have closed a long time ago. The government is basically paying WABA to lobby the government.

That budget is for services provided under contract, like the one mentioned above where kids, seniors and other members of the public are offered free classes where they are taught to ride bikes and ride safely in our streets. Promoting a healthy lifestyle and cheap transportation benefits society as a whole, and this is very well documented. The more people ride bikes, the lower are macro health and mental health costs are, the less public space allocated to parking is needed and the overall societal benefit increases.

So investment in riding is a net positive and is pennies on the dollar in terms of public spend. This isn't the flex you think it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The individuals teaching the “learn to ride a bike class” offered by DC make $250 an HOUR. I am friends with one.

It will surprise no one that this $250 an hour teacher is an activist with WABA

Wow, someone who is passionate about biking, teaches kids how to ride safely is a member of WABA? Wow, that is breaking news. Next you are going to tell me that teachers are members of teaching unions. Say it ain't so.

(hint, where else are you going to find people who are willing to have a very part time job for a few hours a week or month without compensating them well?)

DC not only pays the bicycling instructors $250 an hour, WABA also rents bikes to the schools for the lessons at a price of $1,000 per child. The whole thing is a giant scam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC should cut out vanity programs like curbside recycling and food composting. Both programs are better handled by the private sector. Most household recycling ends up in landfills anyway. And the food composting program is a net negative environmental program that requires a fleet of pickup trucks to implement. The compost program is also a weekly rat buffet courtesy of my lazy neighbors who do not recover their buckets soon after pickup.

I'd prefer to see the programs implemented well (if they can be). Or if not, then let's pay per bag of trash like some places do. We need something to keep back pressure on the amount of waste we generate.

Municipal recycling programs can no longer be implemented well. When China stopped allowing trash imports in 2018 the economics of recycling was flipped on its head. These programs are incredibly expensive with limited to no environmental ROI. If DC suspended its program until the economics improve it would save over $75 million per year. But of course our Council would rather increase taxes to maintain another failing program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I may have missed it if someone posted it, but it looks like it's a tax on non-wage income over a certain amount:

"a 2 percent tax on the nonwage income of D.C. residents making over $200,000 a year ($250,000 for joint filers). Based on the federal Net Investment Income Tax, the new levy would cover not just capital gains and dividends, but also interest, rental income, royalties and annuities."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/06/08/dc-council-will-vote-tax-hikes-that-would-punish-working-families/

This does not seem completely unreasonable to me, contrary to the contention of the op-ed.

Total spending by the DC government has gone up 30 percent in five years. Maybe they could just spend slightly less?

I'm always up for spending more efficiently, but if the government cuts programs like PreK and transit then I just have to pay more out of pocket. Some things are better done collectively.

We've had those programs since forever. That's not what we're talking about.

Then what? Paid family leave? I'm good with that too. What are you proposing to cut?

I get it if you disagree with the programs, but just saying that DC is spending more than 20 years ago is not the dunk you think it is.

No one said anything about 20 years. A 30 percent increase in spending in five years is *astounding*.

Have you been following inflation and cost of living and cost of materials? government buys from the same sources as everyone else.

Has your salary increased by 30 percent over the past five years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I may have missed it if someone posted it, but it looks like it's a tax on non-wage income over a certain amount:

"a 2 percent tax on the nonwage income of D.C. residents making over $200,000 a year ($250,000 for joint filers). Based on the federal Net Investment Income Tax, the new levy would cover not just capital gains and dividends, but also interest, rental income, royalties and annuities."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/06/08/dc-council-will-vote-tax-hikes-that-would-punish-working-families/

This does not seem completely unreasonable to me, contrary to the contention of the op-ed.

Total spending by the DC government has gone up 30 percent in five years. Maybe they could just spend slightly less?

I'm always up for spending more efficiently, but if the government cuts programs like PreK and transit then I just have to pay more out of pocket. Some things are better done collectively.

We've had those programs since forever. That's not what we're talking about.

Then what? Paid family leave? I'm good with that too. What are you proposing to cut?

I get it if you disagree with the programs, but just saying that DC is spending more than 20 years ago is not the dunk you think it is.

No one said anything about 20 years. A 30 percent increase in spending in five years is *astounding*.

Have you been following inflation and cost of living and cost of materials? government buys from the same sources as everyone else.

Has your salary increased by 30 percent over the past five years?

Yeah, inflation has not been 30% over the past 5 years.

It’s runaway spending like a control board never existed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The individuals teaching the “learn to ride a bike class” offered by DC make $250 an HOUR. I am friends with one.

It will surprise no one that this $250 an hour teacher is an activist with WABA

Wow, someone who is passionate about biking, teaches kids how to ride safely is a member of WABA? Wow, that is breaking news. Next you are going to tell me that teachers are members of teaching unions. Say it ain't so.

(hint, where else are you going to find people who are willing to have a very part time job for a few hours a week or month without compensating them well?)

They teach these classes outside of the 9 to 5 office firm hours. They go to their day job at a nonprofit and teach bike class in the evenings or weekends.

There are probably hundreds, if not, thousands of people who would be as good at teaching this class who aren’t card carrying members of WABA. With the jobs open to the public.? no of course not.

they’re offered exclusively to Waba by way of grants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The individuals teaching the “learn to ride a bike class” offered by DC make $250 an HOUR. I am friends with one.

It will surprise no one that this $250 an hour teacher is an activist with WABA

Most of WABA's annual budget comes from the DC government. If they had to live off contributions from real people, they would have closed a long time ago. The government is basically paying WABA to lobby the government.

That budget is for services provided under contract, like the one mentioned above where kids, seniors and other members of the public are offered free classes where they are taught to ride bikes and ride safely in our streets. Promoting a healthy lifestyle and cheap transportation benefits society as a whole, and this is very well documented. The more people ride bikes, the lower are macro health and mental health costs are, the less public space allocated to parking is needed and the overall societal benefit increases.

So investment in riding is a net positive and is pennies on the dollar in terms of public spend. This isn't the flex you think it is.

Let’s not lose sight of the fact that the hourly rate for showing someone how to ride a bike in a parking lot is $250 an hour. $250. An hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The individuals teaching the “learn to ride a bike class” offered by DC make $250 an HOUR. I am friends with one.

It will surprise no one that this $250 an hour teacher is an activist with WABA

Most of WABA's annual budget comes from the DC government. If they had to live off contributions from real people, they would have closed a long time ago. The government is basically paying WABA to lobby the government.

That budget is for services provided under contract, like the one mentioned above where kids, seniors and other members of the public are offered free classes where they are taught to ride bikes and ride safely in our streets. Promoting a healthy lifestyle and cheap transportation benefits society as a whole, and this is very well documented. The more people ride bikes, the lower are macro health and mental health costs are, the less public space allocated to parking is needed and the overall societal benefit increases.

So investment in riding is a net positive and is pennies on the dollar in terms of public spend. This isn't the flex you think it is.

Let’s not lose sight of the fact that the hourly rate for showing someone how to ride a bike in a parking lot is $250 an hour. $250. An hour.

There's a lot of parents who'd volunteer to do it for free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The individuals teaching the “learn to ride a bike class” offered by DC make $250 an HOUR. I am friends with one.

It will surprise no one that this $250 an hour teacher is an activist with WABA

Most of WABA's annual budget comes from the DC government. If they had to live off contributions from real people, they would have closed a long time ago. The government is basically paying WABA to lobby the government.

That budget is for services provided under contract, like the one mentioned above where kids, seniors and other members of the public are offered free classes where they are taught to ride bikes and ride safely in our streets. Promoting a healthy lifestyle and cheap transportation benefits society as a whole, and this is very well documented. The more people ride bikes, the lower are macro health and mental health costs are, the less public space allocated to parking is needed and the overall societal benefit increases.

So investment in riding is a net positive and is pennies on the dollar in terms of public spend. This isn't the flex you think it is.

Let’s not lose sight of the fact that the hourly rate for showing someone how to ride a bike in a parking lot is $250 an hour. $250. An hour.

you understand this is one person working with 20-30 people at a time, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The individuals teaching the “learn to ride a bike class” offered by DC make $250 an HOUR. I am friends with one.

It will surprise no one that this $250 an hour teacher is an activist with WABA

Most of WABA's annual budget comes from the DC government. If they had to live off contributions from real people, they would have closed a long time ago. The government is basically paying WABA to lobby the government.

That budget is for services provided under contract, like the one mentioned above where kids, seniors and other members of the public are offered free classes where they are taught to ride bikes and ride safely in our streets. Promoting a healthy lifestyle and cheap transportation benefits society as a whole, and this is very well documented. The more people ride bikes, the lower are macro health and mental health costs are, the less public space allocated to parking is needed and the overall societal benefit increases.

So investment in riding is a net positive and is pennies on the dollar in terms of public spend. This isn't the flex you think it is.

Let’s not lose sight of the fact that the hourly rate for showing someone how to ride a bike in a parking lot is $250 an hour. $250. An hour.

+1. Insane.