DC government is broken, it's Muriel Bowser's fault, and Matt Yglesias got us here

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oof

I remember reading about the reserve fund a few weeks ago, why is this coming as a surprise to the executive? Shouldn’t they have planned for this?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/03/07/dc-budget-tax-increase-bowser-mendelson/

Undoubtedly part of the reason for this mess owes to a combination of a lack of planning and very wishful thinking on the part of both entities, but the CFO's position does not seem to be particularly well-founded. Per this: https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/685021/d-c-s-2025-budget-process-is-already-off-the-rails-thanks-to-behind-the-scenes-bickering-with-cfo-glen-lee/, the reserve fund in question is a DC (not federal) mandate and so the city should be able to exercise due discretion about how it goes about replenishing it. Insisting on paying back the full $250 mill in a single year is kinda extreme. But, yes, the mayor and the council should have seen this coming and taken the necessary legislative action months ago.

With you 100%.

[Anonymous]

Bowser could just fire the CFO. No doubt they are thinking about that option.

[Anonymous]

I work for District at an agency and I have to work with one of the mayor's budget analysts. He is, without a doubt, one of the laziest, most idiotic people I've ever spoken to, so I can't say I'm surprised that the budget was submitted late if this is the roster Bowser has going on.

[Anonymous]

Can they afford, pun intended, to have DC become less attractive to parents of young kids?

https://wtop.com/dc/2024/03/use-this-version-shortage-and-soaring-cost-of-childcare-causing-some-parents-to-reconsider-living-in-dc/

[Anonymous]

Some on the Council are advocating a DC
"Mansion Tax" surcharge (both on sales and basic property taxes) for "mansions" assessed over $1 million.

[Anonymous]

Some on the Council are advocating a DC
"Mansion Tax" surcharge (both on sales and basic property taxes) for "mansions" assessed over $1 million.

Will the idiocy never end? Wait until they find out that there are a lot of middle and working class families (mostly AA) in 16th Street Heights, Brookland, Takoma Park, Columbia Heights and Petworth who live in the houses their grandparents bought in the 1960s which now have assessments over $1m. Let me guess---this is being proposed by the white liberal progressives? The last time this got floated was by David Grosso, but even he had the sense to try to start in the $2M range.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some on the Council are advocating a DC
"Mansion Tax" surcharge (both on sales and basic property taxes) for "mansions" assessed over $1 million.

So pretty much an additional tax on every homeowner in the district.