Council Votes on FY18 Budget

June 1, 2017

Home News and Updates Council Votes on FY18 Budget

Thank you for your hard work.

On Tuesday, May 30, the DC Council had its first vote on the FY 2018 budget.

The budgets proposed by both the Mayor and DC Council maintained, because of your efforts, some key investments in affordable housing and community economic development that are instrumental to the health of the District. In other cases, the Council fell short of our recommendations. Though we did not see increases in every single one of CNHED’s priority areas, our voice commanded attention.

Here are the highlights of the affordable housing and economic development programs in the budget that were passed by the DC Council on the first vote.

Housing

  • $100 million a year to the Housing Production Trust Fund. CNHED had advocated for at least $125 M and will continue to pursue options on how to increase this amount.
  • $10 million for a new Housing Preservation Fund
  • $16.4 million for the Home Purchase Assistance Program
  • Funding for the Homeward DC plan to end chronic homelessness:Additional $4.49 million for 274 more individuals and $4.2 million for 154 more families for Permanent Supportive Housing. (Council added $2.79M to the Mayor’s proposed budget)Additional $2.32 million for 184 more individuals and $3.7 million for 186 more families for Targeted Affordable Housing. (Council added $3M to the Mayor’s proposed budget)
  • $0 for tenant-based Local Rent Supplement Program
  • $3.4 million for project-based Local Rent Supplement Program, including $1.4 million for projects already constructed but that need additional subsidy to serve lower-income households; an RFP is to be issued. (The Mayor’s proposed budget did not include any funding for LRSP)

Economic Development

While we are still confirming some of the precise amounts, we understand that the programs were funded at the same level proposed by Mayor Bowser, and all but one align closely with CNEHD’s budget recommendations.

  • $3.869 million for the Small Business Technical Assistance Program (confirmed)
  • $7.826 million for the Great Streets Program
  • $2.035 million for the Main Streets Program
  • $300,000 for the Emerging Business District Demonstration Program
  • $4 million (approximately) for Commercial Clean Teams
  • $569,000 for the Small Business Capital Access Fund (CNHED is aiming for a much more robust pool of capital and will continue to pursue this)

From testifying before Council, to showing up for rallies and participating in actions like the DC Small Biz Week Takeover and the yellow shirts filing the Wilson Building, your voices before and during this budget process were heard! Though we did not see increases in every single one of CNHED’s priority areas, our voice commanded attention.

Next Steps

The Council will hold its second vote on June 13, but no major amendments are anticipated.
Going forward, CNHED will work with you to build on these strong investments to ensure District residents have homes that are affordable, support for their businesses, jobs with a career pathway, and other services and programs they need to thrive.

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