There wasn’t a lot of media play (that we saw) about a new proposal that would cut the District’s high tax rates on corporate income and commercial property.
We won’t bog down our readers with lots of numbers, but the goal is pretty clear.
The bill would “make the District’s private sector more competitive regionally,” said a statement from Finance and Revenue Committee chair Jack Evans.
Evans, along with at-large Council member David Catania, said D.C.’s commercial property taxes “are very much higher than the surrounding jurisdictions,” while the city’s business income tax rates “are among the highest in the nation.”
Council Chairman Vincent Gray, Tommy Wells of Ward 6 and Muriel Bowser of Ward 4 also signed on as co-sponsors.
To many, it may sound too much like Republican economics -- tax-cutting the city out of a recession -- but the city’s business rates put it at a sharp disadvantage with suburban governments even in good times.
Evans compared the rollbacks to his successful efforts with Catania in the late 1990s to reduce the city’s high individual income tax rates. The District’s residential property tax rates already are among the lowest in the region.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
But now that we’ve raised business hopes, let’s spray a little cold water on them.
Even Evans noted in his announcement that city revenues have dropped like a rock during this recession (and are still dropping).
“I understand this may be tough to fund this year,” Evans said, “but likewise, it is a direction I believe we should go in the future when we are able.”
• Yea For AAA Rating
While our nearby suburban and state governments scramble to dig themselves out of serious budget holes, the District is holding up pretty well.
It got more good news recently when Standard & Poor’s gave its highest rating -- AAA -- to the city’s new income tax-backed bonds. OK, so it’s the first time the city has issued such bonds, and they’re backed by reliable income taxes. But still, AAA is AAA.
D.C. chief financial officer Natwar Gandhi called it a “gilt-edged rating” that was the result of sound economic decisions by the mayor and council.
Bottom line? The higher rating means the city will pay about $28 million less in interest on the bonds.
• Yea, Damn Media
Here’s the follow-up report on the D.C. Council-Damn Media basketball game.
We won! We won! Nanny nanny boo boo. (We've always wanted to be totally juvenile.)
At the Verizon Center Monday, no one mistook us for the Wizards. Well, on second thought, maybe they did, given the quality of play.
The media defeated the council members 35-25 in the abbreviated game.
As losers, the D.C. Council now has to pass a resolution proclaiming our win. We’re certain the elected leaders will not be disrespectful.
The council team actually jumped out in front of the media team at the start.
“Without a doubt, we underestimated the council and, in particular, Tommy Wells,” said media leader Mark Segraves. “That said, the best team won, despite the referees, who clearly were favoring the council.”
So much for gracious winning, Segraves.
• A Skinny Screech
While we’re on sports, we have to mention one of the major moves by the Washington Nationals.
The mascot has gone on an off-season diet.
Until this year, Screech was an obscenely fat bird that waddled all over the stadium. Now the team mascot still has the same ridiculous bird head, but he’s lost about a zillion pounds.
The Nats say Screech has just grown up since he was hatched for the Nats’ first season here in 2005. We prefer to believe that Screech didn’t just lose baby fat. There are too many fat kids in America and, when you think about it, too many fat mascots.
Welcome to the new Screech. Maybe the team won’t lose 102 games this year.
• A Real Hall of Famer
We’re glad to report that local coach Wanda Oates is getting the recognition she deserves. She has been voted into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association's Hall of Fame. She’ll be among the honorees June 23.
Oates, now a part-time assistant at Wilson High, became a national sensation in 1985, when she was named coach of the boys varsity football team at Ballou High School. But the superintendent’s office rescinded the appointment a few weeks later.
In 1989, Oates became the first woman in the country to coach high school boys basketball. In 1990-91, the Ballou Knights won their first East Division title in 21 years. The team won even though it never played a home game because the floor at the home gym was torn up for repairs all season.
The Hall of Fame is a nice honor for Coach Oates. But her real honor came from breaking new ground as a female head coach and showing that women belong in sports -- at all levels -- if they’ve got game.
She did and she does.