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DPG CH FY2013 CAFR Briefing February 4, 2014

Thank you Chairman Mendelson. Its always good to hear that the financial health of the District is strong. This fact was even more important during the federal government shutdown last year, when our District government employees were able to continue working without missing a paycheck. That meant a lot to residents of the District and sent a strong message to Congress in our ongoing fight for budget autonomy. While we are doing a good job in that regard, as a government we can do much better in terms of transparency when it comes to our budget and financials. For example, it is odd to see that the Department of Human Services underspent last year by $4 million when they claimed to be out of money last year to pay victims of domestic violence who had a legal extension of TANF payments. Its odd to see CFSA underspending by $5 million when there are hundreds of homeless youth in our public school system. These are conundrums for our residents.

Ill have some questions today about this and how our CFO and executive can do a better job of breaking down reports like the CAFR for public consumption. Thank you to all of our witnesses for being here today. I look forward to your testimony and the conversation thereafter.

EXPLANATION OF THE $321 MILLION SURPLUS 1. Can you talk a little about the underspending of funds at CFSA and the Department of Human Services? It seems a little odd since there is clearly a need for homeless services, particularly among youth. a. Can those agencies get those surplus dollars back instead of redirecting it to housing or debt service? 2. There was $76 million in excess revenue last year from property taxes, yet the Tax Revision Commission did not recommend any property tax relief in its recommendations. Would you encourage the Council to consider some property tax relief? a. In the CAFR report, it says that certain classes of property tax collections grew due to rising property values. Which classes saw the greatest increase? 3. Is there a public list of all the special purpose (O-type) revenue? I would love to see the breakout of this $82 million in underspending and the $36 million in excess revenue. For example, is it attributed to more business licenses or more revenue coming into ABRA? 4. Can you explain the negative $50 million from traffic fines? Actually there seems to be a decrease in revenue collected from fines in general. WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO? 1. I think a lot of residents are confused. They see a top line number of a $321 million surplus, but then see that we only get to spend $9 million of that money. To be honest, I dont believe the CFO or the Executive clearly and plainly explains where all the money goes. You have the full CAFR report online, but most residents dont understand all of the jargon. For instance what is the $79 million in accounting adjustments?