Summary
A decade ago, the government of the nation's capital was broke. Employees and vendors were not being paid, and what little cash the city did have on hand essentially went to the highest-bidding agency. The fact that the city's municipal bond rating was junk status meant that even the U.S. Treasury was reluctant to help bail the capital out of its financial miseries. With the help of Congress, the White House and a board of unelected overseers, the city made a complete about-face. After producing seven consecutive balanced budgets, Moody's Investment Service on Wednesday upgraded the bond rating to A2 - its highest ever for the District. Notwithstanding that good news, we direct our concerns toward the mayor's spending plans.
With the one hand, the Williams administration is proposing increases in fees and taxes that would raise the cost of living, and with the other hand, it is proposing giving a $340 million ballpark to the wealthy owners of Major League Baseball. These and other proposed spending policies, which Mayor Williams and other high- level officials shared with us in a breakfast meeting on Thursday, move the city in the wrong direction.See the full content of this document
Extract
Just Say No
The tally on the mayor's spending proposal for fiscal 2005 is $4.2 billion in local funds and $2.25 billion in federal and other monies. The mayor wants to increase taxes on businesses large and small, and to increase fees and fines on eve...
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