Mendelson said his budget plan aims to address priorities outlined by lawmakers earlier this month, revising the $19.7 billion fiscal year 2024 budget presented by Bowser (D) in March. The budget vote follows weeks of clashes between the council and mayor over differing spending priorities, including their vision for public transit and its role in downtown revitalization in its fourth year of the pandemic.
Among other changes, Mendelson wants to restore $35 million to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which Bowser proposed to cut by 81 percent. His proposal also adds about $40 million over several years for permanent housing vouchers; $15 million for charter school teacher pay; and offers nearly $30 million for legal aid and victims’ services programs, which Bowser proposed cutting, citing ending federal pandemic relief.
Mendelson said he found the additional money from a range of sources, including the K Street Transitway proposal.
“What we got from the mayor was a very tight budget,” Mendelson said. “I’m excited about how we’ve addressed many of the concerns that members have, what was given to us in March.”
Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5) said he will introduce an amendment to put more money into food and housing assistance programs, as well as a new child tax credit. , by delaying the planned 2019 tax increase imposed by the city. in commercial land deals worth at least $2 million. Office-to-residential conversions are not taxable. Mendelson said he opposes the proposal.
The council is set to take its first vote on the budget Tuesday, but lawmakers may propose changes before a second vote at the end of the month.
The mayor criticized council members for proposing to defund the K Street project and asking for a surcharge on ride-hailing trips, saying those proposals would hinder such efforts. Bowser’s office did not respond to requests for comment. Mendelson said the council’s budget targets more immediate investment to bring people back to the city centre, including through expanding transit operations, retail grants and cultural events.
“We’re trying to bring downtown back,” Mendelson said. “You tear up K Street for a couple of years and that actually has the opposite effect.”
Here are the key measures the council is considering ahead of Tuesday’s vote that will determine how residents and visitors navigate the city.
Delays on K Street Transitway
The council’s plan is to delay construction of the K Street Transitway, one of Bowser’s most important transportation projects, which is expected to go out to bid this year. The $123 million project will recreate downtown’s busiest corridor between 12th and 21st Streets NW with the addition of dedicated bus lanes.
The plan had significant support from Metro, elected officials, business leaders and residents, but was scuttled this spring when the city eliminated the bike lanes. Metro has maintained its support, saying the transitway is key to making improvements to its bus network.
Metro spokeswoman Sherri Ly said the transit agency was “disappointed” in the council’s decision, which she said was “critical” to the agency’s redesign of its bus network, which is expected to take effect this year. “We need to reevaluate our service across and through the downtown corridor,” he said in an email.
The council budget will retain $8 million to “refresh” the transitway design, up from $1 million proposed by council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who chairs the transportation committee, who left to change the plan. But $108 million from the project will also be needed to fund other priorities. Mendelson said at a news conference Monday that the transitway was “poorly designed.” If the city comes up with a redesign that “everyone likes,” he said the council will support its funding next year.
The proposed redesign of the mile-long corridor would add bus lanes — one in each direction — down the middle of K Street, remove decades-old service roads and include improvements to crosswalks and landscaping. The District Department of Transportation said it removed the bike lanes as part of a compromise, citing pressure from businesses to include more space for parking, drop-off and pickup, and delivery.
More than a dozen environmental and pro-cycling groups on Monday praised the council’s plan to return the transitway proposal to planning, saying the move would ensure the project prioritizes transit, pedestrians and bicycles.
The council’s Transportation Committee originally recommended shifting transitway money to a council-backed program that would make Metrobus free in the city, a proposal Bowser opposed. The fare-free program has been delayed for at least a year at Metro’s request.
Mendelson said he has not been swayed by the efforts in recent days by supporters of the K Street plan to fund it this year, adding: “Almost everybody says privately they don’t like the design.”
New overnight Metrobus service
Mendelson’s budget proposal would fund overnight service on some of the busiest Metrobus routes across the city, a significant expansion of bus operations at a cost of about $46.2 million over four years.
The plan calls for 24-hour service on 13 routes starting in January. The routes will serve corridors with a high concentration of businesses, such as bars and restaurants, with late hours of operation and provide an estimated 44,000 trips in the first year, according to council projections. Among the routes are H4, S2, X2, 33, 80 and 70.
Cost estimates provided by Metro include costs for advertising and signage changes on routes, as well as “some additional Metro police to ensure there is adequate security for overnight service,” it said. by Mendelson. Ly said the council’s plan is in line with Metro’s bus priorities and the transit system’s board looks forward to working with the city.
Restoration of DC Circulator routes
The plan would send $16.2 million in one-time funding to the District Department of Transportation to maintain service on the three DC Circulator routes Bowser put on the chopping block. The routes are Eastern Market-L’Enfant Plaza, Dupont Circle-Georgetown-Rosslyn and Woodley Park-Adams Morgan-McPherson Square.
Bowser’s spending plan for the fiscal year that begins in October would have scaled back the city’s transit operations — which are funded separately from Metro — by cutting three of the six Circulator routes. The service cuts drew backlash from the council and residents, who criticized Bowser and pointed out that his administration months ago had planned to add a route to Ward 7.
Supporters of keeping the routes say the move would save jobs and serve as a critical transit option in communities that rely on the service.
“Those Circulator lines really get people downtown, and if we want to focus on downtown recovery, we need the Circulator to be a part of it,” Allen said.
‘Digital Dispatch’ surcharge
A 25-cent “digital dispatch fee” on ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft would generate about $8.5 million a year and help cover various expenses, Mendelson said. The surcharge would replace a proposal to add a $2 congestion fee to downtown trips, which drew criticism from the mayor and business leaders who said it would hurt efforts to bring people back to the central business district.
The new plan calls for a 25-cent fee for gas-powered vehicle riders, a 15-cent fee for hybrids and a 10-cent fee for electric vehicles, which would apply to trips across the city and any time of day starting Oct. 1. Mendelson says 98 percent of ride-share vehicles coming into the city have gas-powered engines.
The $2 ride-hailing surcharge, proposed by council member Brianne K. Nadeau (D-Ward 1), has divided the council. It aims to reduce congestion and generate millions of dollars in tolls on riders downtown from 7 a.m. to noon and those leaving downtown from noon to 7 p.m.
In a company statement, Uber praised Mendelson’s decision to reconsider the charge, saying the “latest proposal focuses on the importance of increasing the number of energy-efficient vehicles on the road.” Funds from the new fee will help pay for overnight Metrobus service.
“I don’t think 25 cents is something that’s going to make people choke,” Mendelson said.
