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Vince Gray certainly has his work cut out for him in trying to solve the District’s $175 million budget gap, but at least he’s gotten the current Mayor to work with him out in that effort. Reports reveal that Mayor Adrian Fenty will announce a hiring and promotions freeze for the city government this afternoon, something which Gray called for last week. D.C. Wire says that the freeze will likely prevent city agencies from spending money on non-essential travel and might halt employee raises.

The freeze is the first step on Gray and Fenty’s road to a balanced budget. But from the tone that the Chairman took this morning, it sure sounds like higher taxes — whether its just for the wealthy or a wider chunk of the populace — could be coming down the pike. Regarding spending cuts, Gray said that the District is “cut to the bone, actually we’re cut [to] the bone marrow.” In May, Gray wouldn’t endorse any tax increase because he was campaigning, and he will assuredly look at cutting spending before raising taxes. But that statement makes us think that Gray realizes that he might have a hard time obtaining balance without resorting to a tax increase of some kind.