District of Columbia

District of Columbia

Budget Cycle
Annual
  

Mayor Signs Budget 
June

Fiscal Year Begins
October 1
 
Date Budget Introduced
March
 

Prior Years

FY2025 (enacted)
FY2025 (proposed)
FY2024 (enacted)
FY2023 (enacted)
FY2022 (enacted)
FY2021 (enacted)
FY2020 (enacted)

Enacted Budget – Fiscal Year 2025

On July 19, the fiscal year 2025 budget bill was published in the District of Columbia Register after Mayor Muriel Bowser returned the budget to the Council of the District of Columbia unsigned. The budget provides $21.2 billion in total funds, an increase of $1.4 billion, or 7.0 percent, compared to fiscal 2024. The local funds portion of the budget is $11.6 billion, an increase of $944.7 million, or 8.8 percent, over fiscal 2024. General fund revenues in the budget are forecast at $11.7 billion in fiscal 2025, an increase of 6.0 percent over the approved fiscal 2024 budget. The local fund revenues, a component of the general fund, are estimated at $10.3 billion in fiscal 2025. The general fund ending balance is projected to be $3.4 billion. 

The fiscal 2025 approved budget makes several investments and places a special emphasis on the pillars of long-term growth: public schools, public safety, and economic development. In education, the budget maintains $70.0 million to fully fund the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund and makes new investments in the following: $349.0 million to support a 12.4 percent increase to the per student funding formula; $17.0 million to expand career and technical education; and $2.6 million to implement high-quality instructional materials for teachers. Public safety investments include $13.2 million for Metropolitan Police Department CCTV cameras and license-plate readers, $8.7 million to create 40 new community safety officers and fund new civilian positions at the police department, and $7.0 million to increase capacity for youth services and court alternatives. In housing and economic development, the budget maintains $163.8 million for the local rent supplement program and $80.0 million for the Housing Production Trust Fund while adding new investments including $31.2 million to help first-time homebuyers, $23.5 million to streamline business licensing, and $11.0 million to support conversion of downtown office buildings. The budget maintains $144.8 million to support permanent supportive housing and $30.0 million for rental assistance while adding $40.0 million for arriving migrant services, $20.0 million for TANF cost-of-living adjustments, and $6.3 million for children in foster care. New tax policy proposals total $537.4 million in general fund revenue and include the following: creating a higher marginal property tax rate for properties assessed at more than $2.5 million; implementing a sales and use tax compliance initiative; raising the “general rate” sales tax to 6.5 percent for fiscal 2026 and to 7.0 percent in fiscal 2027; imposing an excise tax on electric vehicles; implement combined reporting for corporate income tax filers; requiring District employers to pay a contribution rate of 0.75 percent of wages of covered employees to the Universal Paid Leave Fund; and creating a refundable child tax credit for District taxpayers with qualifying children under age 6. 

Proposed Budget - Fiscal Year 2025
On April 3, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser released a $20.9 billion total gross funds budget, an increase of $1.1 billion, or 5.6 percent, compared to the fiscal 2024 approved budget. The Local Funds portion of the budget totals $11.4 billion, an increase of $748.9 million, or 7.0 percent, from the fiscal 2024 approved budget. Estimated general fund revenues for fiscal 2025 are projected at $11.7 billion, an increase of 2.8 percent over the revised fiscal 2024 amount while the Local Funds portion is projected to be $10.3 billion, an increase of 2.8 percent over the current year. In the Local Funds component of the budget, the operating margin after reservations is $500,000. Total cash reserves are $1.9 billion. The budget closed a budget gap through a combination of reductions (eliminating positions, cutting duplicative programs, government savings) and new revenues. The proposed budget includes revenue policy proposals that increase general fund revenue in fiscal 2025 by $446.8 million. These proposals include adjusting the amount paid by businesses to the Paid Family Leave tax back to fiscal 2021 levels and a new fee added to hotel room stays; if a gap still exists after fiscal 2025, then beginning in fiscal 2026 an increase to the sales tax will be phased in to support increased public transportation costs. 
 


Proposed Budget Highlights 

The mayor’s budget, “A Fair Shot: Strategic Investments and Shared Sacrifice”, was built on the guiding principles of maintaining and enhancing core services and preserving investments that protect health and safety; prioritizing programs with track records of success that advance equity; and resetting spending to align with resources for long-term fiscal stability and focusing new spending on catalytic investments. The provisions below highlight new investments proposed for fiscal 2025.

 

Education

  • $349.0 million to support a 12.4 percent increase to the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula.
  • $255.0 million to support small capital improvements to DC Public Schools including HVAC replacement, roof repairs, field replacements, and other upgrades.
  • $42.0 million to improve the safety and security of DC Public Schools through enhanced lighting, fencing, and access control.
  • $7.5 million to support more efficient ways to transport eligible special education students to school.
  • $17.0 million to expand the Advanced Technical Center to include a healthcare employer partnership, providing career and technical education to students. 
  • $52.0 million for facility renovations and upgrades at the University of the District of Columbia.

Public Safety

  • $463.0 million to build a new correctional treatment facility annex.
  • $13.0 million to increase the number of CCTV cameras and replace license plate readers.
  • $8.7 million to create 40 new community safety officers and fund new civilian positions in the Metropolitan Police Department to free up sworn officers for crime-fighting tasks.
  • $4.6 million to fund immediate provisions of Secure DC, including funds to expand Safe Commercial Corridors and Private Security Camera Incentives, implementation of changes to pre-trial detention, and standing up a new diversion task force.
  • $3.4 million to procure and maintain crime-fighting technology.
  • $3.1 million to hire additional staff at the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services to provide supervision and positive engagement with youth residents.

Downtown

  • $520.0 million for a Gallery Place Revitalization Fund to support sports arena renovations, streetscape improvements, and/or expanded green space.
  • $64.0 million to build a new shelter annex to provide permanent supportive housing and congregate dwelling units.
  • $13.0 million to support a new program that will freeze property taxes for conversions of office buildings into new uses.
  • $26.0 million to streamline business licensing.
  • $5.0 million to create a new Downtown Arts Hub.

Housing and Economic Development

  • $101.0 million to rehabilitate and modernize public housing units.
  • $32.0 million to help first-time homebuyers with down payment and closing cost assistance.
  • $4.8 million for project-based vouchers to support new affordable housing units coming online.

Health and Human Services

  • $23.0 million for renovations at multiple shelters and small-scale improvements at other shelters.
  • $40.0 million for migrants arriving in the District.
  • $21.3 million to create a Behavioral Health Alliance benefit that will provide funding for DC residents who do not qualify for Medicaid.
  • $20.0 million to support the Emergency Rental Assistance Program.
  • $20.0 million to fund required cost-of-living adjustments for recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
  • $13.0 million for operating costs for two new non-congregate homeless shelter facilities about to come online.
  • $6.8 million to comply with the new federal mandate to provide 12-month continuous eligibility for children in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
  • $6.3 million to support the rising cost of complete care for children in foster care. 

Transportation and Environment

  • $217.0 million in additional funding for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) to support Metrorail and Metrobus service levels.
  • $3.0 million to support the operating and maintenance costs of Capital Bikeshare’s continued growth.
  • $1.0 million to update IT systems at the Department of Motor Vehicles to avoid service interruptions.