Budget Horror Gets 67% Worse

Whooaa! Just a couple of days ago I submitted my outrage on this blog about Fenty's $5.7BN 2008 budget, pointing out that it totals $10.4K per District resident, which means that working adults will have to pay multiples of that to fund it.

So I was thrown for a horrible loop when I read an article  in the DC Examiner today stating that the Fenty budget is $9.2BN, or 61% higher than the horror budget.

D.C. Council Chair Vincent Gray said Monday he’s concerned that the chief financial officer’s $9.2 billion budget could create a $40 million deficit.

What is the root of the discrepancy? The Examiner is not known for writing illuminating articles, though I give them kudos to metro coverage the the Wa Post completely ignores. Perhaps this is the crux of it:

Mayor Adrian Fenty and Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi submitted a budget Friday that failed to fund two District agencies — the Office of Personnel and the Office of Contract and Procurement — and instead relies on revenues from fees the two agencies would charge other District departments.

A $92BN budget equals $16.7K per capita. But the reality is far worse. If you subtract the number of people over 65, under 18 and the unemployed, the tax base falls to 334,717, which implies a tax burden of $27.5K per taxpayer. Considering the dysfunction and poverty of much of DC, the real tax base is probably much smaller than that, and the real tax burden much higher on working adults.