Oh, money. As any political junkie or Congressional intern will tell you, the really interesting, not to mention powerful, part of any institution is its budget. That’s where the deals get made and things get done and, coincidentally, why GUSA isn’t important. More importantly, though, on Tuesday the District of Columbia City Council began to battle over the record $1.2 billion budget surplus, and, as ever, the city’s wretched social services are losing.
The District’s public schools are consistently producing below average students in every academic category, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and their education infrastructure is crumbling, so maybe some of that money should be invested in D.C.’s kids. Healthcare, homeless shelters and the D.C. Transit system could all use more funding as well. The debate is over which programs should be the top priority. Or is it?
“[The surplus] starts the debate on what the people want to spend their money on: property tax relief or more money on schools and social services,” Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) told the Washington Post. “I don’t want to sound Republican, but that’s the issue.”
Sounding like a Republican has always been a problem for Evans, but to be sure, D.C.’s current real estate boom can make property taxes grating on homeowners. Every council member has proposed at least one tax relief scheme.
Nonetheless, property taxes are a critical way to pay for city services in dire need, with benefits extending to every resident. Considering the state of the District’s services, it’s hard to be sympathetic to a homeowner whose $100,000-plus condo was just reassessed to be 15 percent more valuable.
Perhaps a compromise is in order, but Evans, whose proposed cap on property tax increases is part of an initial $300 million barrage of tax relief amendments, seems to see the issue as black and white. At least one council member has complained that Evan’s plan will unequally help wealthy residents, and citizens’ groups have united to present the council with a report calling for more money for social services.
A comparison to another recent tax cut based on a budget surplus might be instructive. The Bush income tax cuts of 2000 contributed to the massive federal deficit; their benefit to the lower and middle classes is ambiguous.
At least some of the tax relief proposed by council members did have a higher purpose, though-there were proposals from Adrian Fenty (D-Ward 4), Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) and Carol Schwartz (R-At Large) to relieve or defer taxes for low-income senior citizens.
Some observers have noted that as many as four council members could run for Mayor in the near future, and cutting taxes now could win votes. Hopefully, they will remember that governing is almost as important as buying the electorate.
