When the mayor delivers his 2012 spending plan to the D.C. Council on Friday, don’t expect any tax increases from him, but lawmakers are drumming their fingers.
“Everybody expects this to be a responsible budget with responsible cuts, not just a balanced budget,” said Council member Michael A. Brown, a leading supporter of the so-called “millionaires tax.”
“If cuts are spread out, then maybe I won’t put tax increases and other revenue enhancements on the table. Some of my colleagues don’t see it that way,” the at-large independent said.
“We’ve made a half-billion in cuts the past two years. That’s a lot for some constituents,” he added.
Mayor Vincent C. Gray discussed making “steep” budget cuts during his State of the District address Monday. There have been lots of stories, but let’s cut to the chase about what has not been highlighted:
c At a time when statistics prove D.C. revenues are shrinking, the mayor said he wants to create a new bureaucracy to consolidate “capital projects from a number of agencies into a new department that also will address the leasing of space.”
“The new unit will manage capital projects by working with agencies to accurately budget for them, developing performance measures, establishing and adhering to timelines, and achieving the most efficient use possible of public dollars. This will better ensure that projects run on time, stay on budget and are aligned with the city’s strategic objectives.”
A move like this should cut personnel and save money, too, but only time will tell.
c News broke yesterday that the jobless rate in Ward 8 stands at 25.2 percent, the highest of any metro area in the nation. Next week, ground will be broken on the new CityCenterDC project at the site of the old convention center, which the mayor said “will create a total of 1,700 construction jobs and 3,700 permanent jobs. Total estimated annual tax revenue will be $29.8 million. Projected retail annual sales will be $112 million and the projected retail tax revenue will yield $9.4 million. By far, this is one of the most significant projects ever undertaken in the District of Columbia.”
On this, I’d be glad to say “Hallelujah!” But will D.C. residents be ready to move into those jobs or the 22,000 construction jobs tied to the new federal Homeland Security Department headquarters in Southeast or the new Costco and Wal-Marts?
c “Many remain unemployed or underemployed … because of what is known as a skills mismatch, where prospective employers cannot find qualified hires among our residents,” the mayor said.
To the contrary, Mr. Mayor, it’s not so much a “mismatch” as it is ignorance. First, our schools graduate youths who are unemployable. Then, after the city wastes millions on their free education, they become adults who remain unemployable.
Thousands of those adults then go to taxpayer-funded job-training organizations that don’t tether participants to jobs.
The city needs to start tying D.C. job-training dollars to employment-performance contracts, putting the mayor in position to kill two birds with one policy: Rid the city of the jokers who suck dry our coffers and grow the city’s tax base.
c We won’t know the precise details until Friday, but the mayor already has plugged $77 million in new money to schools. So, while he warned in his speech that “budget cuts will be steep,” schools will be doing less with more.
They might hand out more high school diplomas, but that won’t matter if “graduates” can’t comprehend a job or college application.
Update: In a recent column, I looked at truancy and dropouts and wrote about a teen who had not attended one day of school all year long.
I said whether the girl had dropped out or was in serious domestic trouble, she needed to be rescued.
Well, she has been, a city official informed me.
Deborah Simmons can be reached at dsimmons@ washingtontimes.com.
• Deborah Simmons can be reached at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.
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