The Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission heard from D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson about Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed fiscal year 2027 city budget during their meeting on Wednesday.
Mendelson told commissioners the proposal includes “widespread” cuts impacting nearly every sector — Bowser’s April 10 proposal totals a $469 million reduction in the city’s overall budget — along with about $100 million in tax increases. He said the Council’s committee hearings reviewing the budget will start Monday and run for three weeks as they prepare for the first of two budget votes in June, where Mendelson said he wants the Council to focus on restoring proposed cuts as opposed to funding new programs.
“We’re just seeing across the board with other agencies that there are cuts,” Mendelson said. “What I have advised Councilmembers is that we should be looking at how we can restore some of those cuts instead of looking at new programs and new initiatives. ”
The commissioners said the budget is very “tough,” echoing Mendelson’s report to the ANC, and invited residents to participate in the budget-approval process by attending Council committee hearings. 2A03 Commissioner and ANC Chair Trupti Patel said it is her duty to advocate for her constituents, and part of that is urging them to make their opinions heard.
“I encourage residents to participate in the budget process,” Patel said. “This is your tax dollars. Fight for the priorities you care about.”
The commissioners also voted 2A06 Commissioner John Dolan in as the new vice chair in a 3-1 vote — after Keaton DiCapo, the former vice chair, vacated his seat in the body — with one abstention from 2A09 Commissioner Sean Youngstone, who was also nominated but withdrew because he did not want to hold both the vice-chair position and the treasurer position. The meeting also marked 2A02 Commissioner Rob Gifford’s first as commissioners swore him in last week.
Here are some highlights from the meeting:
Mendelson details proposed cuts in FY2027 city budget
Mendelson said the mayor’s proposed budget includes widespread cuts in “almost everything,” including the Department of Behavioral Health, while providing for modest increases in sectors like education and the Department of Buildings.
He said the D.C. chief financial officer is holding about $160 million in reserve funds that he is preventing the mayor or Council from spending, stemming from Congress’ block of the Council’s attempt to decouple the city’s taxes from President Donald Trump’s federal proposal. Mendelson said he plans on “taking him on” this issue to limit funding cuts by using the surplus funds.
“It doesn’t make sense because the chief financial officer has been hoarding cash, and he is preventing the mayor or the Council from spending it,” Mendelson said.
He said DC Public Schools are getting a “little bit” of an increase due to a change in the funding formula — meant to increase teacher salaries, improve math scores and graduation rates and increase the number of students in public schools — providing an additional 2.55 percent per student. Mendelson said that the Department of Buildings, which he has oversight of, is getting a 2.6 percent increase from the previous year’s budget.
Mendelson reported that some Council members are looking to propose new programs and initiatives that would require a significant amount of funds from the budget. He said he is urging the Council members looking at allocating funds to additional programs to first find ways to restore the cuts as the budget is too tight to fund both.
“I do not know what members are thinking because we don’t have the money to restore the cuts, let alone to fund additional,” he said.
Each sector of the budget has a committee within the Council that will review its portion of the proposal and navigate any new programs proposed. Mendelson said that programs will be slow moving due to D.C. facing a mayoral transition in the upcoming year, and the change in office will prevent programs from being immediately implemented.
“Initiatives or program implementation by the executive this fall will slow down considerably as the current mayor and her team are slowly going out the door,” he said.
Mendelson said he is still reviewing the details of the proposed budget before it gets into committee to better understand where the money is coming from and exactly where it is going. He said the Council will hold a hearing May 13 where members of the public can make appeals to the Council on specific budget items.
Commissioners pass utility resolution but face skepticism among colleagues
Commissioners voted 4-2 to pass a resolution calling for stronger government oversight into utility rate increases and an increase in billing transparency from utility providers. The resolution comes after commissioners in March criticized the Potomac Electric Power Company’s repeated widespread outages and climbing electricity bills — some of which residents reported spiking to over $1,000 a month.
The resolution first faced a vote, which passed with five yeses and one abstention, to strike two clauses from Gifford, because he had not fully reviewed the legislation.
The resolution recognizes the rising utility costs and the emergency legislation recently passed by the D.C. Council, temporarily prohibiting from disconnecting utilities for 90 days for unpaid bills under $1,000. The commission’s resolution calls for further oversight from the Public Service Commission to explain utility rate changes, utility assistance programs and billing transparency.
The PSC has been increasing its oversight over Pepco amid residents reporting record-high spikes in utility bills across the District. During last month’s meeting, the commissioners heard from a Pepco official who said the company was trying to help residents deal with the high costs through emergency relief.
2A04 Commissioner Ed Comer, who voted no on the resolution, said the issue is “far too complicated” for the ANC or D.C. Council to understand and pointed toward global issues like the war in Iran as the cause of the higher rates. He said the District doesn’t have enough money to cover higher utility rates for all people.
“We may feel good by passing this, but you’re not going to have any real-world impact,” he said. “I think it’s a waste of time.”
Dolan, who voted yes, also pushed back on the resolution, stating it was a “soft ask” and said he shares Comer’s pessimism that “anything will come” from this resolution.
“I agree with Commissioner Comer that there are international forces at work that are driving that way beyond the scope of the ANC,” Dolan said.
MPD reports overall decrease in crime, answers questions on juvenile curfew enforcement
Metropolitan Police Department Lieutenant Kenneth Taylor reported a citywide decrease in crime this year, with the exception of assault with a deadly weapon, which is up 37 percent. However, he said that arrests are up 9 percent compared to this time last year.
He said Ward 2 is also seeing an increase in robberies, assaults with a deadly weapon and motor-vehicle theft. Within Police Service Area 207, which is the ANC2A jurisdiction, Taylor said there has only been one homicide this year that was closed in February. PSA 207 is also up 17 percent in arrests.
Taylor also addressed questions from 2A08 Commissioner Jim Malec about minors getting caught out during juvenile curfew hours as the Council is putting a permanent to a vote on April 21.
The juvenile curfew is a result of the mayor wanting to stop “teen takeovers” in areas like Navy Yard, which have led to fights or arrests in the past.
Taylor said several arrests have been made regarding cases involving gunfire or assault on other juveniles, but they are mainly incident reports for those who are only found to be in violation of the curfew, not arrests, unless there is a secondary crime.
“If juveniles are brought into our custody just for violation of being out past curfew, this is not treated like an arrest,” Taylor said.
