The next OTA stakeholders meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 9, 2011, from 1 pm to 3 pm in the OTA conference room located at the Reeves Center, 2000 14th Street, NW – Suite 300N. Jenny Reed, Policy Analyst at the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, will explain and discuss Bill 19-164, the “Schedule H Property Tax Relief Act of 2011,” a key housing affordability measure now pending at the DC Council.
We are moving up our November meeting by another week for 2 reasons. First, we want to avoid a conflict with the hearing on Bill 19-164, which the Committee on Finance and Revenue has rescheduled for Wed. Nov. 16th. Second, Chief Tenant Advocate Johanna Shreve would like to provide stakeholders with more detailed information about this rather complicated matter, and encourage broader and better informed participation at the Nov. 16th hearing.
In a nutshell, as discussed at last week’s OTA stakeholder meeting, Bill 19-164 would reform Schedule H’s “low-income” renter / homeowner tax credit in a number of ways. Most importantly, it would raise the income eligibility threshold from $20,000 to $50,000 -- thus many more DC residents would be eligible to receive this tax credit, particularly elderly tenants and others on fixed incomes.
Jenny Reed will first explain the purposes and mechanics of the current law; how DC’s law stacks up against other jurisdictions that have similar laws; and the reform provisions of Bill 19-164 itself. For those of you who are considering testifying at the November 16th hearing, we will then discuss testimony generally; ideas for amendments to the bill; fiscal considerations and other competing concerns; and Jenny’s and DC FPI’s own recommendations.
For those of you who are not familiar with this group, DC FPI has been an expert and leading advocate for DC housing affordability generally, and Schedule H reform specifically, for many years. They have presented at past OTA stakeholder meetings and at our Summit this past September.
Please contact Delores Anderson to RSVP if you are planning to attend at [email protected] or by calling (202) 719-6560.