The chair of the D.C. Council on Monday canceled this week’s planned delivery and presentation of Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s fiscal 2025 budget proposal — an unusual step that he blamed on the mayor’s administration.
Washington, D.C
D.C. Council chairman blames budget delay on mayor’s office
A spokesperson for Bowser did not return multiple requests for comment Monday.
The delay threatens to further complicate a budget season that has already sparked discussions about potential cuts and tax increases to fill the financial gaps, as the city grips with modest revenue growth projections, an unstable commercial real estate market and some major upcoming expenses paired with expiring pandemic-era federal aid.
To ensure a timely start to budget deliberations, council members in January voted on fiscal 2025 budget submission requirements that called on Bowser to deliver her proposal no later than Wednesday. Under D.C. law, the council has 70 days after the mayor transmits her budget proposal to adopt a final version, kick-starting its tight annual timeline to hold dozens of agency hearings, make revisions and hold multiple votes.
Further complicating the situation is that Lee this year reiterated his office’s request to have 10 days to certify the mayor’s budget once he received it before it could be presented to the council. Wilson said the CFO has always had a “pencils-down” date set 10 days before the mayor delivers her budget to the council, giving them enough time to ensure the proposal is balanced and that any documents are legally sufficient.
Lee reminded city leaders of that timeline in a Feb. 5 memo to Mendelson, City Administrator Kevin Donahue and the budget directors for both the council and Bowser’s administration, noting he’d need to receive the budget on or before March 10 to stay on schedule. In a March 11 letter to the same group, Lee noted that because the budget proposal had not been sent to his office by March 10, it could not be transferred to the council this Wednesday as planned.
In an interview, Mendelson said the delay was unusual. If the budget delivery is delayed until the end of March, he said, the council’s 70-day window to approve it would bump right up against the District’s June 4 primary election where several members are on the ballot for reelection.
“Campaigning takes full time. Considering a $20 billion budget takes full time. The last several weeks when we are voting — and we vote twice — are all consuming with the budget,” Mendelson said. “You throw in the campaign, and it becomes unthinkable.”
Mendelson said there have also been disagreements between the CFO and legislators in recent weeks about how quickly the city must move to replenish its local reserves. He said while that may have initially slowed things down, Bowser’s administration had identified a plan last week.
“The reserves are not the issue for the delay,” he said.