On May 30, 2019, D.C. Policy Center Executive Director Yesim Sayin Taylor was quoted in a The DC Line commentary on the 2019 D.C. budget:
“That was just a distraction, however. Legislators didn’t address the fundamental problems with Bowser’s 2020 budget proposal. They supported her decision to increase taxes in a budget document without providing any real opportunity for residents and businesses to weigh in through a public hearing focused on just that issue. They failed to block Bowser’s hike of the deed and recordation taxes on the sale of commercial property. What’s more, they supported the mayor’s backdoor veto of legislation previously approved by the council to decrease the tax rate on commercial property. If that were not enough, council members levied a tax of their own; they raised from 7 percent to 8 percent the sales tax on sodas and other sugary drinks.
“Relying on short-term revenue fixes to pay for spending increases doesn’t bode well for fair and competitive tax policy,” Yesim Sayin Taylor, executive director of the DC Policy Center, wrote in a commentary published by The DC Line.”
Read more: DC Council sidesteps financial responsibility | The DC Line
Related: DC’s budget is growing at a faster pace than economic fundamentals can support