News

Small Business Tax Relief Introduced; Council Passes Graham Legislation on Human Rights, Adams Morgan and Business

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 6, 2005

Contact: Alan Heymann
(202) 727-8229

Washington, DC – Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward One) and Chairman Linda W. Cropp (D-At Large) today jointly introduced legislation to provide property tax relief for longstanding small businesses in the District of Columbia.

Under the bill, an arts or retail business would receive a 50% property tax credit if:

“This is the business equivalent of being house-poor – their property is valuable, but they can’t afford to do business there,” said Councilmember Graham. “They’ve been in the neighborhood for the good times, the bad times and the return of the good times, but they’re in danger of being priced out. Ben’s Chili Bowl in Ward One would have to sell an awful lot of chili dogs to deal with property taxes 5 times greater than last year.”

The DC Council today also gave final passage to six bills introduced by Councilmember Graham:

1. Unlawful evictions. The Council passed emergency legislation to stop unlawful evictions uncovered during public roundtables held by the Committee on Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, chaired by Councilmember Graham.

District housing law allows landlords to repair violations of the housing code and to fix serious health hazards such as mold and asbestos – and to receive permission from the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs to vacate a building if the tenants would not be safe during the repair. In these scenarios, the tenants have an absolute right to return to their apartments at the same rent as before, as well as the right to moving expenses paid by the landlord.

During the roundtables, the Committee heard testimony from tenants who were asked to sign these rights away for a pittance, while the Rent Administrator at DCRA approved the proposals to vacate several DC buildings based on asbestos remediation plans for a building in Leesburg, Va.

“These abuses will stop,” said Councilmember Graham. “This legislation spells out exactly what landlords must tell tenants and when, and what information the Rent Administrator must keep available. No longer will landlords take a piece of law designed to protect the health and safety of tenants and use it to clean out buildings and sell luxury condominiums.”

2. Columbia Heights development. The Council passed an emergency tax measure that will ensure progress on the major retail project planned for 14th and Irving Streets, NW in Columbia Heights. The parcel is slated to include 500,000 square feet of retail space, including the District’s first Target store and others.

The 1,000 space parking garage beneath the retail complex is to be owned and operated by the National Capital Revitalization Corporation, an entity created by the District government to spur economic redevelopment. Today’s Council action makes the garage tax-exempt during its construction phase. It was introduced by Councilmembers Graham (D-Ward One) and Jack Evans (D-Ward Two). CM Graham also authored the $42 million tax increment financing package in July 2004.

“This project has been in the works longer than I’ve been on the Council,” said Councilmember Graham. “We’re all looking forward to getting the ball rolling on construction at long last. I’m glad my colleagues joined me today in taking this important step.”

Construction on the retail center and garage is scheduled to begin in Spring 2006, with completion scheduled for 2008. For more information, please visit http://www.grahamwone.com/target.

3. Bill 16-288 establishes a Business Improvement District, or BID, in Adams Morgan. A BID is a special assessment on businesses in an area that the District Government collects, but the businesses decide how to spend.

The BID will spend its funds primarily on daytime cleaning of the neighborhood’s commercial sidewalks and streets, and on additional security at nighttime.

“Adams Morgan is known throughout the world as a great place to visit,” said Councilmember Graham. “But we also know it’s a great place to live and work. The BID will help businesses in the neighborhood address the problems that come with this popularity – mainly cleanliness and security. This is a great step forward.”

4. Bill 16-347 allows a small number of longtime District street vendors whose licenses have lapsed to apply for reinstatement. The DC government has had a moratorium on new vending licenses since 1998, when the Council commissioned a study of vending in the downtown area. The study was supposed to be brief and the moratorium temporary, but more than 7 years have passed.

The bill applies to a maximum of 29 vendors, all District residents, who would be allowed to vend in a small portion of downtown DC. It also ends the moratorium on vending licenses by July 1, 2006.

“Street vending is a key part of life in a great city,” said Councilmember Graham. “It’s the smallest kind of small business, usually minority-owned, and an important source of jobs for a good number of people. This moratorium has caused the number of street vendors to drop significantly, and I’m glad we’re setting a

5. Bill 16-29 puts the “Morgan” back in “Adams Morgan.” The neighborhood got its name from the two elementary schools once located there – Adams Elementary, which still stands, and the segregated Morgan School, demolished long ago. In 1958, the principals of these two schools got together and named the neighborhood in the interest of racial harmony.

This bill takes an unnamed road now designated as an alley, and a stretch of Champlain Street, NW that has no addresses, and designates them both as “Old Morgan School Way.”

“Old Morgan School Way is important for historical reasons,” said Councilmember Graham, “But it also makes life better for residents of the neighborhood, who will no longer face the confusion of calling for emergency services on an unnamed road.”

6. Bill 16-389 adds “gender identity and expression” as a protected status under the DC Human Rights Act. The bill was introduced by Councilmembers Graham and Vincent Orange (D-Ward Five) and co-sponsored by the entire Council.

Many employees, employers and housing providers are not aware that transgender discrimination is already banned. Under the Graham legislation, the new language prohibiting transgender discrimination will appear on employment posters throughout the District.

“This bill sends a clear message to the entire District of Columbia, and indeed the entire nation,” said Councilmember Graham. “And that message is that we don’t tolerate illegal discrimination here – in any form.”

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