Some council members —but not all—have  expressed support for parts of a revenue package supported by the Fair Budget Coalition. We need you to contact the DC Council to ensure we have enough support for a budget passed with progressive revenue increases. These include proposals to:

• increase the income tax for the wealthiest.  Right now, DC residents making $40,000 a year and those who make $1 million pay the same income tax rate.  Increasing the rate on those making more than $200,000 a year would raise $40 million and impact less than 5 percent of households.
• end DC’s tax exemption for interest paid on out-of-state bonds.  Only DC and Indiana provide income tax breaks for residents that invest in other states’ infrastructure.  Eliminating this exemption would raise $17 million and give District residents an incentive to invest in DC’s roads and bridges.
• modernize the sales tax to include more services.  DC’s sales tax was created at a time when people spent more on goods than services. Today it’s the other way around. Adding more services to DC’s general sales tax — like pet grooming, health club memberships, and theater tickets — would raise more than $14 million.

Call DC Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (202-724-8032) and At-Large DC Council member Kwame Brown (202-724-8174). Chairman Gray and Councilmember Brown have not announced their positions on these important revenue increases. Tell them you support adding revenue, and you want them to as well!

“Tax increases on D.C. Council agenda”
By Tim Craig, Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 29, 2010

The D.C. Council will consider tax increases in the coming weeks to close a $550 million budget gap, including higher income taxes on the wealthy and new levies on liquor, soda, parking, pet grooming, club memberships and theater tickets. Full article at washingtonpost.com

Sign on as an individual or an organization to let the DC Council know you support taking a balanced approach to the budget.

The crushing national recession has brought hardship to DC families. Unemployment has more than doubled over the past two years and public needs are rising dramatically — but the District has fewer resources to meet those needs because revenues have collapsed.

To make it through this crisis, it’s important for DC’s response to preserve crucial investments in health care, education, social services, and affordable housing. Most states are taking a balanced approach to the recession — by making spending cut but also using reserve funds and raising some taxes. That’s the reasonable course; there is no single way to solve a problem this big.

The proposed budget now before the Council takes steps to preserve services, yet it still includes many cuts — in child care, job training, mental health services, disability services, police and public works — and it offers little help to address Metro’s funding crisis. These cuts will hurt families that are struggling to stay afloat and jeopardize the District’s ability to make the most of prosperity when it returns. The city already has suffered from cuts in schools, libraries, recreation centers, and homeless services — threatening our wellbeing now and in the future.

Sign on as an individual or an organization to let the DC Council know you support taking a balanced approach to the budget.