As a member of the Council of the District of Columbia for over 14 years and Chair of the Council's Committee on Finance and Revenue for six years, Councilmember Evans has served as the steward of our city's finances on the legislative branch during a time of financial growth and economic turnaround. Today, our economy here in the District is strong and robust, and our bond rating has reached "A Status".

DC's success can be attributed to three major factors: tax reform legislation passed by the Council in 1999 and 2000, the real estate boom the District experienced, and the return of fiscal responsibility through a better handling of our City's finances. Throughout his tenure on the DC Council Jack has been a leading supporter of reducing the tax burden for residents and making city agencies accountable for their actions. If DC continues on its course of financial prosperity, residents (who are some of the most overburdened taxpayers in the world) should receive tax relief.

THE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE AND REVENUE

The Committee on Finance and Revenue is responsible for matters relating to taxation and revenue for the operation of the government of the District of Columbia, general obligation bond acts, revenue anticipation notes, and industrial revenue bonds. The following agencies come within the purview of the Committee on Finance and Revenue:

• Board of Real Property Assessments and Appeals
• District of Columbia Lottery and Charitable Games Control Board
• Office of the Chief Financial Officer
• Office of Tax and Revenue
• Office of Revenue Analysis
• Office of Financial Operations and Systems
• Office of Finance and Treasury
• Office of Finance and Resource Management

Jack has served as chair of the Committee for over six years. The other members of the committee are Councilmembers Catania (I-At Large), Barry (D-Ward 8), Graham (D-Ward 1) and Brown (D-At large).

To view electronic copies of all legislation referred to the Committee on Finance and Revenue on-line follow these steps:

1. Go to www.dccouncil.us
2. Click "Legislation"
3. Click "Legislation by Committee"
4. Select a Committee - "Finance and Revenue (FR)
5. Click "Search"
6. Click on the Bill or PR number of the legislation you want to view
7. Click "View Legislation Online"
8. Click "Click to See Document"
   

To sign up for the Committee on Finance and Revenue's electronic legislative newsletter, send an e-mail to Ruth Werner, Acting Committee Clerk for the Committee on Finance and Revenue at rwerner@dccouncil.us.

THE REAL ESTATE BOOM

The real estate boom that Washington finally saw over the past few years has finally shown signs of a flattening trend. Washington, DC, once known as a sleepy real estate market has turned into one of the nation's strongest. The real estate boom can be attributed to several factors, such as low mortgage rates and the increase in federal government jobs in the District and suburbs of Maryland and Virginia, particularly in the areas of defense and homeland security. Prices have soared for all types of real estate, including office buildings, apartment buildings and single-family homes.

While this real estate boom has been instrumental in bringing economic revitalization to many parts of the city that were essentially deserted not so long ago, it has also increased property taxes for District residents and, has brought challenges to providing sufficient affordable housing options to District residents. Debates over the FY 2006 budget that included an additional $40 million to the original estimate focused on whether the revenue generated by this real estate growth should be spent, or used for property tax relief.

As chair of the Committee on Finance and Revenue, Jack expressed great concern over the rapid growth in spending by the DC government which was based entirely on additional revenue generated from DC's hot real estate market. Jack believes the best way to prevent the gentrification of neighborhoods and the displacement of long time DC residents is to enact a 5% cap on property tax bills. Jack has also been the leading advocate on the Council for full funding of the Housing Production Trust Fund, which supports affordable housing programs throughout the City.

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) on DC's annual audit of revenues and spending highlighted the evidence of the City's financial recovery. The District is unique in that it produces a yearly audit four months after the close of the fiscal year. The District has produced its seventh on time and "clean" audit and has accomplished 10 years of balanced budgets. This truly speaks to the turnaround in our financial management. Going from junk bond status and a Financial Control Board, to reestablishing fiscal responsibility and a bond rating that is the envy of most cities and states. The city produced a $230.5 million surplus for FY 2004, the eighth budget surplus in a row! The CAFR also showed a cumulative general fund balance of $1.2 billion, the first time DC has ever exceeded the billion-dollar threshold.

However, many challenges still remain. The District must find remedies to its inherent structural imbalance, which prevents it from addressing pressing infrastructure needs and requires it to maintain higher than average tax rates and reserves. In May 2003, the US General Accounting Office (GAO 03-666) confirmed that the DC government has a structural imbalance estimated to be between $470 million and $1.1 billion. This large, long-term imbalance is caused by the District's high percentage of tax-exempt federal property, its inability to tax non-resident income generated within its borders and the state-like functions it must support.

The District continues to pay for increased growth of the government through real property taxes generated from a strong real estate market and low office vacancy rates. Throughout the FY 2007 Budget process, Jack repeatedly raised concerns to his colleagues against growing the budget with such a rapid increase in spending since it's based almost entirely on the current red-hot real estate market.

"I think we run the risk of repeating past mistakes that ushered in the Control Board if we continue to increase our spending so rapidly. An over 8% growth rate in recurring spending in the District's budget is not responsible when household incomes and business profits are growing at only 3-5%," Evans said. "My colleagues and I would be abandoning our responsibilities as elected officials if we passed a budget that continued to balloon the District government at a rate not sustainable in the long term."

"The FY07 budget does a good job of investing in our schools, health care, human services, libraries and overall physical infrastructure of the City, which are very important human needs for our residents. That being said, I've never believed throwing money at a problem would fix it -- I hope my colleagues who are eager to spend the surplus on agencies they oversee, will perform vigilant oversight this year to make sure the money is used as it was intended. It is incumbent upon the Mayor, Council, and Chief Financial Officer to make the tough decisions - from examining the core agency missions to demanding greater efficiencies and cost savings.

Fortunately, I was able to convince my colleagues that the residents of the District of Columbia also needed some additional tax relief on top of what was recommended by the Mayor. In the FY06 budget, the Council reduced the property tax cap from 12% to 10%, increased the Homestead Deduction from $38,000 to $60,000, and lowered the property tax rate from 96 to 92 cents per hundred dollars of assessed value. I also successfully fought to get tax relief to maintain affordable housing and co-ops.

Through the exercise of responsible government, the District of Columbia has once again become a model city in and with which to do business. The challenge we continue to face is ensuring that the prosperity reaches all people, in all communities of our city. I am committed to meeting that challenge."