Today, DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson announced that the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Request Act of 2013 and the Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Support Act of 2013, the bills that comprise the Council’s FY 2014 budget proposal, have passed the first reading unanimously.

“This budget proposal makes important investments in many of the most pressing needs of the District:  affordable housing, seniors, tax relief, homeless services, truancy prevention, transportation, and the arts,” said Chairman Mendelson. “These initiatives will help to sustain and expand the city’s growing economy. Without the strong foundation of the Mayor’s proposed budget and financial plan, and the cooperation and support of both the Mayor and the Chief Financial Officer, the Council would have been unable to make the changes listed below.”

The Council’s FY 2014 budget proposal funds important existing services and programs, as well as new initiatives to strengthen economic and community development in the District. Specifically, it:

Financing and Other

•  Provides low-income residents with property tax or rent credit against household

income taxes by funding the Schedule H Property Tax Relief Act.  In FY 2014, the DC Homeowner and Rental Property Tax Credit (“Schedule H”) will raise income eligibility for the program to $40,000 per year (increasing to $50,000 in FY 2016 and adjusted to the consumer price index in subsequent years).  In addition, individual taxpayers will be able to claim the credit, and the maximum tax credit amount increases to $1,000.

• Funds the Age-in-Place and Equitable Senior Citizen Real Property Act to provide additional real property tax relief to seniors so they can afford to keep their homes.
• Approved eliminating taxes on interest earned from out-of-state municipal bonds.
• Funds the Senior Housing Modernization Grant Fund Amendment Act and increases the maximum grant amount to $20,000 to assist seniors who wish to “age-in-place.”
• Modifies the way the District’s motor fuel tax is structured in order to stabilize this source of revenue. The Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax Amendment Act will eliminate the 23.5 cent per gallon tax for gas and diesel fuel by instituting an 8.3% tax on the wholesale price of gas and diesel fuel and limiting the volatility of the revenue stream by indexing the tax to an average price.  The proposal is revenue neutral because both the current and the proposed tax structures will generate $21.8 million in FY 2014.

Human Support

•  Identifies $3.6 million in FY 2014 for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Time Limit Amendment Act (TANF)—making the District the 49^th jurisdiction to provide TANF extensions and hardships exemptions for particularly vulnerable TANF recipients.
• Increases funding for the Homeless Services Continuum, including $972,000 for chronically homeless seniors and homeless LBGTQ youth, and an increase of $800,000 for emergency rental assistance for low-income families.
• Provides $500,000 to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) assistance for non-disabled, non-senior single adults; and $400,000 for a rapid rehousing pilot program for single adults.
• Adds $2 million to the Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) program (also known as Housing First) for new PSH units for families and individuals.
• Increases access to healthy and affordable food across the District by dedicating additional funds to support farmers programs and food bank school programs within the Department.

Government Direction and Support

• Allocates $185,000 to fund electronic voting machines and poll books.
• Creates a new position at the Board of Ethics and Government Accountability, to support government transparency programs.

Economic Development and Regulation

• Increases of $2 million of new tenant-based Local Rent Supplement Program vouchers to the DC Housing Authority to help low-income District residents afford clean, safe, and stable permanent housing.
• Funds the Workplace Fraud Act defines the employer-employee relationship for the construction industry in the District, and details the conditions under which a construction industry worker must be classified as an employee (as opposed to an independent contractor). The bill also establishes regulations barring construction-industry employers from improperly classifying employees as independent contractors.
• Enhances DOES’ authority, through the Wage Theft Act, to address cases of wage theft and pursue liquidated damages in such cases, thus providing a deterrent for malfeasance in the workplace.

Public Safety and Justice 

• Provides $750,000 within MPD for video technology improvements and upgrades to aid law enforcement.
• Adds $335,000 to the Fire and Emergency Management System’s budget for recruitment and retention of paramedics, in addition to three new paramedic positions.

Public Education

• Reestablishes the Office of the Ombudsman for Public Education in order to assist parents, guardians, and students as they navigate the public education system.
• Funds the Attendance Accountability Amendment Act of 2013 to track student unexcused absences between District agencies and the courts better.

Public Works

• Directs $400,000 for new Bikeshare stations.
• Allows the DC Taxicab Commission to increase the number of wheelchair accessible public vehicles-for-hire in the District.