DC risks having to cut $75 million in services a year from now. At first glance, recent reports from the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) suggest that there will be enough money to maintain services in 2017, but that’s only because the spending projections don’t include tens of millions of dollars the Mayor and DC Council approved on a “one-time” basis for 2016 – including important investments in health care, affordable housing, the community college, and others. When the cost of maintaining these services is counted, the city will have less than needed to fund all of the services that residents and businesses are receiving this year.
In other words, we may be faced with budget cuts over the coming year and little or no opportunity to make progress on things like addressing the homelessness crisis or closing the school achievement gap…. [Read full article.]
Wes Rivers, DC Fiscal Policy Institute
