The bad news for District leaders is they have a $782 million budget gap to close over the next four fiscal years, as revenue projections have grown gloomier while the pandemic drags on.
The good news is they’ll have an extra $222 million to ease that pain just a bit.
That’s the latest word from D.C. Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey DeWitt, who on Wednesday issued his first revised look at future District revenues since the height of the coronavirus crisis in April. The new projections come with a whole lot of red ink, as so many businesses have had to operate under virus-related restrictions for much longer than DeWitt initially hoped.
Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. Council will have to act right away to address declining revenue figures for fiscal year 2021, which begins Oct. 1, hammering out a supplemental budget plan after taking a first crack at a budget back in July. They’ll have to make some painful decisions about future years, too.
