One of the D.C. Vote ads encouraging residents to vote for budget autonomy.

Come April 23, D.C. residents will have a chance to vote in a referendum that would amend the city’s Home Rule Charter to allow local officials to have more control of their locally raised dollars. As we’ve written before, it’s a sneaky way to get the type of budget autonomy that elected officials and local activists have complained that D.C. doesn’t have.

It’s unlikely that the charter amendment won’t pass, but the folks over at D.C. Vote don’t want to take a chance. In February, it created a campaign committee so as to be able to raise money to promote the cause, and today it is releasing a set of web ads (including here on DCist) that makes the case for budget autonomy by sarcastically mimicking what opponents might say.

The ads cite three reasons to vote against the charter amendment. In the first, the faces of House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) are pictured under the statement, “We Can Trust Congress With Our Money.” In the second, a D.C. license plate is pictured alongside the statement, “For D.C., Taxation Without Representation Works.” In the final ad, a picture of the Washington Monument is accompanied by the statement, “No One Really Lives in D.C.”

Despite its good intentions, the referendum has provoked concerns among some D.C. officials. Mayor Vince Gray and Attorney General Irv Nathan tried to keep it off the ballot, arguing that passing such an amendment to the charter could potentially be illegal and anger members of Congress. (D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton also expressed misgivings over the approach.) Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has said that he’d like to push budget autonomy on the Hill, though the last time he did that he included an unpopular restriction on the use of local funds for abortions.

Last week D.C. elections officials predicted that the charter referendum wold help drive turnout on April 23, which will also feature the At-Large D.C. Council special election.