One Bright Spot to Budget Woes

CFO Natwar Gandhi gave the media a briefing this morning about the $131 million budget shortfall the city faces for fiscal 2009. The main culprit in the diminished revenue estimates was income taxes, which took a hit because of capital gains declines in the stock market.

However, there was a bright spot. The D.C. real property market continues to outperform expectations after a long run of success. In fact, Gandhi upgraded property tax revenue projections by $77 million from the estimate his office made just three months ago. This has softened what could have been a much more painful budget gap, Gandhi said, and he credited the commercial property market in particular with keeping revenues high.

The upshot: Don't expect your personal property tax assessments and bills to drop any time soon.