Evening star., 1961-01-17
Budgetory Poker

Du0get0Iy FokeI
Rarely, If ever, has the District Of
Columbia drafted budget as complex
and precarious as the document sent
to Congress yesterday. One city of1icial,
IN referring to its provisions as poker
game budgeting," has exaggerated
neither its patchwork quality nor the
uncertainty Of its future.
In the first place, and this is rare
IN Washington history, the fiscal 1862
budget is unbalanced: In order for its
spending proposals to be financed, the
Commissioners are relying on Congress,
in q separate and preliminary action,
to approve Q) an increase in the
Federal payment to $40 million, i2) \
drastic $14-million local tax increase
ana (3) for the following year, . brand
new $75-million borrowing program.
Apart from this request, furthermore,
they are seeking an immediate So
million supplement to e.. this years
Federal payment-fully authorized by
Congress but unappropriated-so that
current obligations can be met.
Unless these things are granted,
the budget will be severely out Of
kilter, and the inevitable result will be
to reduce and possibly to kill proposals
for stepping up the already seriously
baeklogged program Of public works
improvements The problem is that it
is impossible now to foresee how much
alteration-there is virtually certain to
be some-will be required. At best, the
ensuing "poker game" presents un-
precedented problems, and 1t may well
be near the end Of the session before
really clear picture emerses.
!, This kind Of fiscal maneavering, of
course, Is the antithesis Of sound
budgeting-a fact that both District
and Budget Bureau officials are well
aware Of. They feel it is JUSTIFIED and
necessary In order to present the total
financial mess to Congress in a single
package. to revitalize the tagging works
program and to keep the over all
financial capabilities of the city from
slipping further and further behind
each year.
Our concern, however, Is whether
the Congress will recognize that its own
financial responsibility toward the
District is the key to any real solution.
For certainly the cause Of the trouble
is clear. The works program has
faltered-and that is the root Of the
immediate crisis-because Congress
annual Federal payments have not re-
presented the fair share Of the costs
which Congress agreed to pay when the
long-range improvement program was
set up in 1854. During the last six years,
the Federal payments actually appro-
priated have fallen $29 million below
the amounts authorized by Congress,
while the District has been forced to
absorb higher taxes, to increase
borrowing at dangerous rate and to
divert funds that we're needed for other
purposes. -.--
AS for the new local tax bundle
proposed by the Commissioners, we
have misgivings. AS long as the costs
Of government continue to rise (and the
so-called mandatory" costs are going
up at rate of between So and $40
million a Year,, higher taxes are
inevitable, and perhaps some are un-
avoidable this year. The point is, how
ever, that taxes alone cannot do the
job. The city's needs cannot be met un-
less adequate Federal payments also
are appropriated, and the Commits
sioners' past willingness to- propose
higher taxes on the assumption that
this would happen too often has
saddled District residents with an un-
fair and one-sided deal. We hope, there
fore, that any tax increase this time
will be tied to a commensurate rise
In the Federal share. -. ~.
The question of whether this Is
done, whether the District will be able
to return to more manageable and
sensible budget next year, is entirely
in the hands Of Congress. And the first
test of its intentions will come fairly
, early in the session-on the request
for an additional Sc million Federal
payment to help meet the current
years expenses.