Fenty Going For A Dip
Mayor wants DC to use cash reserves
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The mayor shows he's not scare of a silly number.
The number 666 is quite a beast for D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty.
The mayor needs to find a way to close a $666 million revenue shortfall over the next two years. Before resorting to making deals with the Devil, Fenty will urge dipping into Washington's contingency cash reserves and depending on federal stimulus money.
Fenty will give the D.C. Council a revised spending proposal on Friday; the council is due to vote on the budget July 31.
Officials say the budget gap would be filled by cutting 250 positions in addition to the 1,631 Fenty had proposed; selling a bus garage for $6 million; and moving tax revenue and special funds set for specific policies into the general budget.
About $125 million will come from the city's rainy-day fund and $188 million from the economic stimulus package.
Fenty would not say what jobs would be eliminated.
The Washington Post reported that the city will create a $63 million shortfall for 2010 by tapping the reserves, and that the District must replenish at least half of that the next year.
"You don't cry over it," Fenty told the Post. "You make the adjustments necessary and make sure the show goes on."
Copyright Associated Press / NBC4 Washington
