We know D.C. Get our free newsletter to stay in the know.
Congress has installed a financial control board to do what it couldn’t: monitor and control the city’s spending. But the District, not Congress, will be picking up the board’s tab. The board’s operating expenses will be culled from the annual federal payment, money the feds give D.C. to make up for untaxable land. According to congressional legislation, board members will not receive a salary, but they “may receive reimbursement for any reasonable and necessary expenses incurred by reason of service on the authority.” The executive director will receive a salary that could exceed that of City Administrator Michael Rogers ($115,700), and will establish the rate of pay for other personnel, including consultants and secretaries. The board and its staff can also tap money the city borrows from the U.S. Treasury. Those funds will be put in escrow. The board can then spend “such an amount and under such conditions as are established under the budget.” The budget is established by—you guessed it—the board.