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The District finished the 2012 fiscal year with a budget surplus of as much as $400 million, The Washington Post reports. Fueled by more revenue than projections suggested as well as less spending by city agencies, the 2012 surplus is well ahead of 2011, when D.C. finished with an extra $240 million.
Much of the surplus came from increased revenue sources such as the District’s growing network of traffic cameras, which netted $84.9 million for the city’s coffers last fiscal year. The Post also reports that some of the extra money came from fees that can only be used for specific purposes, such as the 5-cent bag tax.
While $400 million will certainly prompt a lot of people to ask for a lot of things, Mayor Vince Gray is expected to direct most of the additional funds toward the District government’s emergency fund. However, progressive activists are already gearing up for a push to see a chunk of that money spent on affordable and low-income housing programs. A “Housing for All” rally is scheduled for Saturday at noon in the Martin Luther King Jr. Library in Chinatown, featuring members of the D.C. Council. Gray said earlier Friday morning that he plans to attend as well, though demonstrators shouldn’t expect any specific promises about what will be done with the surplus.
“The mayor is going to talk about his support for affordable housing,” Gray spokesman Pedro Ribeiro tells DCist. “No announcement has been made about a surplus.”
The Post also reports that the city’s finances are expected to continue growing following several years of nine-digit budget deficits:
District officials also expect an upward revision in revenue in the current fiscal year.
“Our projections are showing the same trends and forces that drove unexpected revenues in ’12 are going to be in play in ’13,” said a senior Gray administration official. “With our projections, we can hold the line about being fiscally responsible now, and use new money in ’13 to make some new social investments.”
The final surplus numbers will be officially announced next Tuesday.