Photo by volcanojw.

Today, the D.C. Council voted for the first time on the District’s 2012 budget — and, despite plenty of proposed amendments, eventually gave it the thumbs up.

The original spending plan introduced by Mayor Vince Gray in April was put through the council’s meat-grinder over the last month-and-a-half, and what D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown released last night — a “transformational budget,” he termed it — restored spending for certain social services (to the tune of $23.4 million) while scrapping a proposal to raise taxes on the city’s highest-earners.

In an opening speech this morning, Brown argued that the budget he helped shape responds to the city’s “core priorities” while making the District’s government smaller and more efficient. Speaking directly to Gray’s proposal to hike taxes on residents making more than $200,000 a year, Brown said that it was “not realistic…not the best option to tax our way out of the problem.” Brown did keep a tax on parking garages and combined reporting, though, and added a tax on money made from out-of-state municipal bonds. Additionally, Brown reinstated the Tax Revision Commission to better study the city’s tax structure. (The Post’s Mike DeBonis has a great rundown here; Greater Greater Washington focuses on transportation initiatives that made it into the budget.)

While councilmembers pushed a number of amendments — Michael Brown (I-At Large) and Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) wanted the tax hikes back in (which failed on an 8-5 vote), while a few others wanted athletes to pay taxes on money they make here (passed) — Gray took the majority of the drama out of today’s debate by saying that he supports the changes that Brown and the council made and won’t be wielding a veto pen over the omission of some his revenue enhancement proposals. He did, though, argue that a proposed tax increase was more progressive and equitable than a tax on out-of-state municipal bonds.

One interesting element of the budget is that it sets spending goals for money that the District doesn’t yet have — but might get if the economy improves. According to Brown and Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), a June revenue forecast might see the District bringing in anywhere from $20 to over $100 million in additional revenues. If that comes to pass, Brown has outlined how the money would be spent — including directing more money towards the city’s savings account, hiring more police, increasing funds for affordable housing, rolling back parking meter rates, and keeping Martin Luther King, Jr. Public Library open on Sundays. If the District sees more than $108 million in additional revenue, the new tax on out-of-state municipal bonds would be rolled back.

While there’s a certain logic to planning ahead for money that the city might get — since the D.C. budget goes to Congress in June, any additional money earned thereafter can only be appropriated by Congress itself, which is no easy feat — D.C. CFO Natwar Gandhi isn’t particularly excited about the idea. In a letter to Gray and Brown yesterday, Gandhi cautioned the two against budgeting based on June revenue forecasts, noting that the national economy remains shaky and unpredictable. He advised that they wait until September to see how much — if any — extra money the city will have to spend.

An amendment by Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), however, could be problematic for Brown’s revisions — some on-the-dais deal making with Vince Orange and Graham gave Wells the votes he needed to pass an amendment that would alter Brown’s municipal bonds proposal, despite Evans’ protestations. (Evans was upset that Wells was able to pass his amendments by promising money to Orange for Emancipation Day celebrations and Graham for the renovation of the Lincoln Theatre; “we can’t earmark,” Evans said. “If we’re back to earmarks, I’m all for it. I’m the king of earmarks.”)

Ultimately, though, the budget passed the Council unanimously. A second vote is expected on June 14.

Aaron Morrissey contributed to this post.