One in five District owners is delinquent in property taxes, according to city Chief Financial Officer Nat Gandhi.  This startling stat was revealed last week in an Associated Press story, but the piece didn’t get into the nitty gritty of just what happens next.

Well for a cautionary tale, look at Hagerstown, Maryland—the local county government is slated to auction 170 properties there today. All of the owners are delinquent on their taxes. Originally, 315 properties were advertised in early June as part of the sale.
Read More “A Lesson to Delinquent District Tax Payers” »

The Convention Center Hotel, located at 9th Street and Massachusetts Ave.

“I want you to imagine a District of Columbia without a Verizon Center and a Convention Center,” stated Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans. “It would probably look like Detroit.”

“We are now spending records amounts of money in our school system. We are spending record amounts in our human services system. Those record amounts of money are generated in economic development,” Evans stated.

These comments came midway through today’s hearing on the convention center hotel, a long-stalled project which was kicked into gear again earlier this month.

The success of the convention center and the city’s tourist industry, according to various DC officials and business leaders, rests on the completion of this 1,170-room Marriott, which would have 100,000 square feet of meeting space.  Shaw locals that testified about the project seemed pretty jazzed about the retail/restaurant possibilities for the neighborhood as well.  Read More “‘Build it for the Children’ and Other Highlights from the Convention Center Hotel Hearing” »

Property taxes! They just don’t save city budgets like they used to.

The AP has a story out today about the District’s $340 million two-year budget shortfall. One of the main culprits is undelivered property taxes—or as the city’s Chief Financial Officer Nat Gandhi said:

Much of the latest shortfall comes from a $123 million reduction in property taxes collected this year. Gandhi said almost one in five property owners is delinquent on taxes.

Read More “Apparently, DC Property Owners Don’t Pay Their Taxes Anymore…” »