City Agencies Asked to ‘Dig Deeply’ to Cover $300M 2011 Budget Gap
Ed Lazere of the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute has scooped the reportorial corps with this revelation: District government agency heads have been asked to reduce their budgets by some $300 million going into the fiscal 2011 budget planning process.
This news comes from a memorandum [PDF] issued by City Administrator Neil O. Albert last month, which cites flat revenue growth, the cessation of stimulus funding, and need to replenish reserve funds spent to cover a gap in fiscal 2009. The bottom line is that every agency is "required to present expense reductions and revenue generating proposals that could sustain up to a 10% local funds budget reduction target."
Writes Albert: "It is critical that each agency evaluate all spending, and dig deeply into the assumptions that underlie its allocation of resources." Agencies have until Dec. 2 to come up with ideas.
Lazere notes that the "revenue generating proposals" stand to be interesting, given that Fenty made a campaign pledge not to raise taxes, "which severely limits how the city can create new sources of revenue in these cash-strapped times."
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6:04 pm
“revenue generating proposals” stand to be interesting, given that Fenty made a campaign pledge not to raise taxes, “which severely limits how the city can create new sources of revenue in these cash-strapped times.”
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There really aren't any good options. The city has already reduced it's workforce by over 15% and privatized in many areas as much as is responsibly possible. There is one big fat option that the citizens, who don't want to be taxed another cent, are going to have to face. A temporary yet wholesale reduction in services. In a recession you just cannot have it both ways. Also in the city's arsenal, though along the same vein, is a District wide furlough. Could you imagine the savings if the entire District government, say for essential services, shut down for one or two days a week.
I am a citizen of the District and I HATE the idea of another tax, however, I think that spreading the pain among the many will be less painful than cutting major services to the few that really need them. So long as the philosophy is "tax and SAVE".
We are slowly coming out of this recessionary climate, it is time for our local government to think creatively and in ways that do not make an already bad situation worse. One thing is for certain, they will not be able to fire their way out of a recession and retain services at an acceptable level. And this is not a likely option in an election year particularly with winter upon us.
Perhaps the Mayor and the Council should put an ear to the ground and listen to the vibe of the citizens. They know things are tough, and understand that everyone is taking a hit to keep things going. See what they say about what they can do without.
If there was ever a time for a citizen's summit sponsored by the local government, NOW is the time.
8:29 pm
Cut redundant social services; cut Council budget 15%; sell off unused city land; institute 2 year freeze on any laws that create new spending programs.
8:46 pm
DC has a workforce of roughly 30, 0000. This means that, in a city of 600,000, one in evey 20 people works for the local municipal government. That excludes the enormous federal government presence.
How does DC's municipal staffing compare to best practices in, say, Boston, Baltimore, San Francisco, Richmond, Newark, etc?
Seriously, before you look at cutting services, look at how sustainable the DC's level of workforce is. And that means looking at the unionized (AKA entitled-class) workforce. And that's hard, given DC Gov's traditional role of lifting the marginally-qualified out of poverty through offering them jobs. And that means more Mayor-Council battles.
9:38 pm
End developer subsidies and prohibit the use of consultants for what should be staff work. Eliminate DMPED and DME.
11:16 pm
Arrest Jim Graham, sneak into his apartment, take the cash out of his freezer, problem solved!
11:42 pm
During this recession, the District has given wealthy developers a pass on paying property taxes (tax abatement), while telling homeowners facing foreclosure to call the District's 311 # to locate a non-profit for assistance.
8:24 am
Downtown Rez
I have raised that argument that you make regarding the size of the District workforce, which on the surface appears VERY large, with friends and contractors that I know that work for and with the government. The fact is, the District is in the unique position to have to function not only as a municipal government but also a state government. Services usually reserved at the state level are delegated to the District Government by way of the Home Rule Charter. Thus, we have a city with state responsibilities, i.e. a Department of Health, Department of Transportation, Department of Corrections, Department of Energy, Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Department of the Environment, Attorney General, State Superintendent of Education, Department of Human Services, Insurance, Securities and Banking, Department of Motor Vehicles and Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services. All of these customarily state level agencies are managed by the local government by local level human resources. This is why our taxes are so unusually high. So it stands to reason that the District government is going to be larger than, say, Boston, Baltimore, San Francisco, Richmond, Newark, etc government, however, if you add the number of employees employed by Boston, Baltimore, San Francisco, Richmond, Newark, etc with those who work for their respective States you would get into the 10's of 1000's of employees per jurisdiction.
So when you say that before we look at service cuts we need to look at reducing employees, you are wrongly presuming that you can do one without the other with such heavy responsibilities. It wouldn't matter if the District were wholly non-union you simply have to have bodies to carry out the work, and failure to carry out most of those functions could land this city back into the hands of the Federal Control Board, who will do nothing more than go out and hire the same number of people, at a higher salary, and bill the District taxpayer.
What I do know is that many in the District government are not unionized and that the District has a different pay scale between union and non-union employees. One gets paid on average 10k more at the same place on the different pay scales. That would be the Union. However, those are the people that are carrying out the essential services in the city that you nor I can do without. Fire and Emergency, Police, Sanitation, Road Construction and Maintenance, snow removal, teachers etc. You cut those folks, you are, necessarily, cutting services.
Every state and county in the nation has had to make a reduction in services or consider increasing taxes. Their governors or executives and legislatures have had to make common sense reductions in services to make up for financial pressures. The District is no different. I think it is illogical for any citizen these days to presume that during a recession that they can continue services as usual without making any sacrifices.
Lets say the District Government decided to fire or furlough(using your 30k base figure of employees)the 23,500 employees left after last years staffing reduction. You are going to experience a permanent or temporary reduction in some service depending on the option chosen. And there is some population (small or large) in the city that is going to be dependent on those services.
Again, I think that it is time overdue that the Mayor and Council convene a citizen summit to have that tough discussion on how best to close the deficit. Unlike states, the District, by the anti-deficiency act, is not allowed to submit an unbalanced budget to Congress.
Citizens will need to decide if they wish to reduce services (temporarily or permanently) or agree that the city needs to increase tax revenue. When the economy turns around, the city will turn around with it, business will increase, sales tax revenue will increase and all other tax vehicle's in the city will increase. But for now, we have to fill the economic hole.
That is why I say you cannot fire your way out of a deficit. The city needs to do like Ford, negotiate a contract with it's union that will save the piggy bank and keep their workers on the assembly line. We elect these folks to make those tough decisions.
5:14 pm
downtown rez wrote: DC has a workforce of roughly 30, 0000. This means that, in a city of 600,000, one in evey 20 people works for the local municipal government. That excludes the enormous federal government presence.
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That 30,000 workforce is roughly made up of MD and VA residents in numbers that are staggering. DC residents cannot even get DC government jobs in their own city because MD and VA residents have them and then let's not forget about the cronyism and nepitism that the Fenty administration seems to subscribe to that payes their DC salary taxes to the states that they TRULY live in which in many instances is NOT DC.
5:35 pm
Good point, JT. We pay taxes in the District so that people in MD & VA can come here to work for our government. Then, we cannot tax their salaries.
Worse, these MD & VA people don't care about doing their jobs well. As long as NY Ave & Wisc. Ave & the bridges to VA are open, they just happily go home, leaving behind all of the problems they do nothing to fix.
Fire the entire DC government apparatus. Make everyone re-apply for their jobs. Hire only DC residents.
If Congress objects? Shut down the bridges, shut down NY & Wisc. Ave. Impose a blockade & a general strike & shut down DC until we have full self rule, including the right to tax anyone who sets foot in the District.