Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) is urging the D.C. Council to reconsider its vote last week to raise income taxes on the city’s wealthiest residents, though council members on both sides of the issue say options to reverse the decision are limited.
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Bowser, who frequently weighs in on proposals by the city’s legislature, did not offer public comment after the council on July 20 decided in an 8-5 vote to raise taxes on residents making more than $250,000 annually. Opponents on the council said the process felt rushed and not necessary because the city is getting $2.3 billion in federal pandemic relief funds over the next several years.
But in a statement sent to The Washington Post late last week, Bowser’s office asked council members to “reconsider” the tax hike ahead of final votes on the city’s budget next month.
“With a once-in-a-lifetime infusion of federal funding, we believe now more than ever that the government should live within its means and not burden residents or employers,” the statement said. “That’s why Mayor Bowser sent a balanced budget to the Council that invested in our residents — like a historic investment in affordable housing — while lowering taxes and fees. We hope that the council will reconsider raising taxes before their final vote.”
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Bowser did not include any tax increases in her proposed budget this year and last summer was vocal in her opposition as legislators considered a dime-per-gallon gas tax hike and a new tax on advertising sales. It would have been “foolhardy” to raise taxes, she said last year, citing the uncertainty of the economy as the pandemic raged throughout the District.
In response to Bowser’s statement, lawmakers say that options to intervene are limited and that it’s unlikely any effort from the mayor or council to overturn the tax increase would be successful.
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The five council members who voted against the tax hike say they support the programs it would pay for, like housing vouchers, a monthly tax credit for low income families and subsidies for day-care workers. But they argued for a more thorough process to review the proposal and fully assess its implications.
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“It’s not a pretty situation for those who think [the tax increase] is a bad decision,” said D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D), who was among the most vocal opponents of the measure. “There are plenty of things in the budget that members do not like, none of them as serious as this. But there’s not much we can do in the short run.”
Members of the council who oppose the measure could try to introduce an amendment to offset or erase the tax increase when the council votes again on the budget in August, Mendelson said. But that effort would probably fail because it would require at least two lawmakers who were initially in favor of the increase to switch their votes to a reach a seven-member majority.
“With the current composition of the council and where members landed, I don’t see this changing in the near future,” Mendelson said. He added that he has no plans to try to reverse the measure. “We’re legislators. There are eight votes, and we know how this works — that’s more than a majority.”
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Bowser does not have the power to veto the specific line item that references the tax increase, but she could use her mayoral veto on the entire budget. It wouldn’t be unprecedented: In 2014, then-Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) vetoed that year’s budget in hopes of keeping funding alive for programs he championed. But the council easily overrode his veto days later on in a 12-to-1 vote. It takes nine of the council’s 13 members to override a mayoral veto. Bowser has not said whether she would consider a mayoral veto.
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Mendelson said he thinks it’s unlikely that Bowser takes this step, and he said the council would almost certainly override her veto because the proposed budget provides billions for other measures that lawmakers have fought for in recent weeks.
“The dynamic for her is the same as the five of us who didn’t support the tax increase,” he said. “We lost on the vote. There’s not a good way to reargue it.”
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Lawmakers who voted in favor of the tax increase say they’ve heard overwhelming support for the measure from constituents. They agree with Mendelson’s assessment that it’s highly unlikely anything will change between now and the second vote, despite Bowser’s plea to the council.
“It’s such a small group — only about 5 percent of D.C. residents are affected” by the tax increase, said council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4), who co-sponsored the legislation. Asked about arguments that the additional taxes could spur wealthy residents to move out of the District, she said they’ll be happier to live in a city where fewer people are homeless.
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Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who also co-sponsored the amendment, added: “I lost track of how many times well-off people asked me, ‘Can you please have the city ask me to pay a little bit more?’？”
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Other lawmakers say Bowser should be more direct in her request. Council member Kenyan R. McDuffie (D-Ward 5), who voted against the tax increase in hopes the council would more thoughtfully weigh the pros and cons, said that if Bowser wants the council to intervene, she should “come out and say it plainly.”
Like Mendelson, McDuffie does not plan to introduce an amendment to block the proposal ahead of the second vote.
“There’s a sense from advocates, business leaders and ordinary residents alike that the city needs to do more to extend a hand to people who have been harmed by this pandemic. The mayor’s budget proposal simply wasn’t bold enough — I understand why advocates pushed for this tax increase,” McDuffie said, adding that he agrees there’s a need to review how taxes are levied in the city.
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“But introducing a stand-alone tax increase the night before our vote is neither the way to achieve justice in our tax code, nor the most effective way to legislate,” he said.
Julie Zauzmer contributed to this report.
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