Use Surplus to Bring Residents Out of the Rain
A $400 million surplus is great news for our city. We hope our elected officials will choose a balanced approach that balances fiscal responsibility and human responsibility. Jeff Krehbiel, Pastor at Church of the Pilgrims and WIN co-chair, says, “It would be a missed opportunity to to put all of the surplus into a ‘rainy day fund’ when it is already pouring outside for too many DC residents who are homeless or struggling to afford a roof over their heads. Our savings fund is larger than the vast majority of states, the District can responsibly save a portion — allowing our reserves to keep growing — and still spend to meet the interests of residents.”
Last budget season the DC Council voted to put priorities such as $1.7 million to house homeless youth, and funding from the Housing Production Trust Fund on the “contingency list” in case of a budget surplus. To date that list has not been funded. We hope elected choose to spend some of our city’s wealth to meet human needs and preserve the economic diversity in Washington DC.