DCFPI’s annual Budget Toolkit hits the interwebs today! We hope the Toolkit can help you dig down deep into Mayor Gray’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2013, which he released on March 23rd. The DC Council will have its first vote May 15th, giving you a little under a month to analyze, ask questions and advocate!
There are several parts of the toolkit this year. Available today is the budget overview, which highlights the major changes the mayor proposed. The overview discusses how Gray balanced the budget, going through the major cuts as well as his proposed revenue initiatives. Toward the end of the paper is an addendum, which gives a more comprehensive view of each appropriation title. The addendum also goes through Gray’s proposed revenue contingency list, the 25-item list of programs and services he proposes to fund if revenue ends up higher than expected.
Want to delve deeper into the revenue initiatives or the housing budget? DCFPI will be rolling out subject-specific toolkit pieces all week. Tomorrow morning, we will put a spotlight on all the revenue pieces in Gray’s budget.
Want to analyze the numbers on your own? Then take a look at the budget spreadsheet. This is a comprehensive accounting of the city’s budget over the years. There are several tabs within the spreadsheet, which you can find if you look toward the bottom of the screen. DCFPI’s budget analysis adjusts for inflation, but we have a separate tab for the raw numbers too. A guide is in the spreadsheet, including notes on where we made budget shifts to make apples to apples comparisons between years and how’and what numbers we used’to adjust for inflation.
The toolkit also is a central spot for other important budget materials. You can find quick links to the mayor’s budget, questions and answers from DC Council hearings, and revenue forecasts.
DCFPI will be highlighting new pieces that will get added to our toolkit all week! Let us know if you have questions!
