AOBA Reschedules Briefing on DC’s Energy Star Benchmarking Law

On Tuesday, March 23, the DC Legislative and Regulatory Issues Committee will host representatives from the District’s Department of the Environment (DDOE), who will brief AOBA members on implementation of the mandatory Energy Star benchmarking and reporting requirements in the District. Note: This meeting was originally scheduled in February but had to be cancelled due to snow. Read more

Evans Convenes Working Group to Examine BRPAA Reform

In November 2009, Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) and Council Chair Vincent Gray (D-At Large) co-introduced Bill 18-530, the “Real Property Tax Appeals Commission Establishment Act of 2009.” The bill proposes to replace the Board of Real Property Assessment and Appeals (BRPAA) with a new Commission comprised of 18 individuals with either an MAI or CAE professional designation. Read more

Council Restrucures Committees; Michael Brown Takes Over Housing Committee

On March 2, a unanimous Council voted to remove Councilmember Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) from the chairmanship of the Committee on Housing and Workforce Development and from membership on the highly important Committee on Finance and Revenue. Barry was replaced by Councilmember Harry Thomas (D-Ward 5) on Finance and Revenue and Barry, in turn, was appointed to fill the seat on the Committtee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs (PSCA) that Thomas vacated in order to move onto Finance and Revenue. Read more

Council Extends TOPA Changes Governing Tenant Responses to Offers of Sale

On March 2, the Council moved to extend emergency legislation amending the requirements governing how tenants can respond to an offer of sale of their building. In 2009, the Council adopted emergency and temporary versions of Bill 18-179, the “Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Preservation Clarification Act of 2009.” The 2009 emergency and temporary legislation initially mirrored the permanent bill’s language, allowing tenants in housing accommodations with four units or less to file their statements of interest by hand-delivery or by first-class mail, as the law already allows in buildings of five or more units. Read more

Housing Committee Sets Hearing on Rental Housing Bills

The Housing and Workforce Development Committee has scheduled an April 1 hearing on two bills. Bill 18-548 proposes to eliminate the ability to conditionally implement a rent increase requested in a hardship petition. Read more

Updated Information on WASA’s Proposed FY 2011 Rate Increases

In the February At Issue, AOBA published the DC Water and Sewer Authority’s (WASA) proposed rate changes for FY 2011. At that time, only the combined increase for the water and sewer rates was available. Please see the amended chart below, which now lists the proposed increases for the water and sewer rates separately. Read more

Oversight Budget Season in DC

There are still a few remaining performance oversight hearings scheduled for March. Please contact AOBA if you are interested in testifying regarding a particular agency. AOBA members are also asked to review the list below and provide the following information to AOBA... Read more

DC Agencies on the Move – DCRA and OTR to Relocate; DDOE Settles Into New Space

February 19 - DC Department of the Environment (DDOE) Moved to 1200 First Street NE: This move brings together the divisions that were formerly located at the Reeves Center, 2000 14th Street NW, and at 51 N Street, NE. Employee telephone numbers remain the same and the agency’s main line is still (202) 535-2600. Read more

Expect Road Closures for 5th Annual SunTrust National Marathon and Half Marathon on March 20

On Saturday, March 20, 2010, 12,000 qualified runners will race through the streets of Washington, D.C. as they make their way through six of the District’s eight wards as part of the 5th Annual SunTrust National Marathon and Half Marathon. Read more

AOBA Reschedules Briefing on DC’s Energy Star Benchmarking Law

On Tuesday, March 23, the DC Legislative and Regulatory Issues Committee will host representatives from the District’s Department of the Environment (DDOE), who will brief AOBA members on implementation of the mandatory Energy Star benchmarking and reporting requirements in the District. Note: This meeting was originally scheduled in February but had to be cancelled due to snow.

Click here to see the Energy Star Benchmarking Requirements for Private Buildings in DC.

The LRIC’s guests from DDOE will be: Stella Tarnay, Senior Policy Officer for Green Building, Office of Green Economy; Mary Lynn Wilhere, Business Outreach Coordinator, Office of Green Economy; and Daniel J. Barry, Senior Policy Analyst for Climate, Office of Policy and Sustainability.

If there are any specific issues that you would like addressed, please contact Nicola Whiteman at (202) 296-3390 or via e-mail at Nwhiteman@aoba-metro.org. We look forward to an informative meeting. Please rsvp by calling AOBA at (202) 296-3390.

Evans Convenes Working Group to Examine BRPAA Reform

In November 2009, Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) and Council Chair Vincent Gray (D-At Large) co-introduced Bill 18-530, the “Real Property Tax Appeals Commission Establishment Act of 2009.” The bill proposes to replace the Board of Real Property Assessment and Appeals (BRPAA) with a new Commission comprised of 18 individuals with either an MAI or CAE professional designation. Additionally, the bill proposes several procedural changes to the real property tax appeals process.

At the February 18 public hearing on the bill, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) requested that the Council amend the bill to grant the Office of Tax and Revenue the right to appeal BRPAA or any successor entity’s decisions to the DC Superior Court. Members will recall that OCFO sought such authority twice during the FY 2010 budget discussions, and both times it was rejected by the Council. This time around, OCFO is seeking the right to appeal only in cases involving major commercal properties, hotels and apartment buildings. AOBA continues to oppose this proposal, in the belief that vesting OCFO with this right would come at the expense of taxpayers by having a chilling effect on valid taxpayer appeals that might otherwise be brought.

In response to AOBA and other stakeholders, Councilmember Evans convened a working group and directed it to discuss and submit a proposal on how to reform the tax appeal process. The group met on February 25, 2010 to begin examining a variety of topics, including strengthening the minimum qualifications of persons appointed to hear appeals. Still to be discussed is the question of whether to keep BRPAA but significantly alter its rules and procedures, or to adopt a proposal, like that in the legislation, which would create a new entity. These and other issues must be addressed by the working group fairly soon as Councilmember Evans has advised that he is not interested in a long, drawn-out process. While not technically part of the working group’s charge, AOBA is advocating that the Council also reform the assessment process and first-level appeals. Without an examination of the quality of initial assessments and assessors’ frequent unwillingness, for whatever reason, to meaningfully consider making changes at the first level, many of the real or perceived problems attributed to BRPAA will continue.

Council Restrucures Committees; Michael Brown Takes Over Housing Committee

On March 2, a unanimous Council voted to remove Councilmember Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) from the chairmanship of the Committee on Housing and Workforce Development and from membership on the highly important Committee on Finance and Revenue. Barry was replaced by Councilmember Harry Thomas (D-Ward 5) on Finance and Revenue and Barry, in turn, was appointed to fill the seat on the Committtee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs (PSCA) that Thomas vacated in order to move onto Finance and Revenue.

The Council’s actions were in response to a Special Counsel report concluding that Councilmember Barry personally benefitted from a personal services contract, and had violated the city’s conflict of interest statute, standards of conduct, constituent services statute and, possibly, criminal laws.

Council Extends TOPA Changes Governing Tenant Responses to Offers of Sale

On March 2, the Council moved to extend emergency legislation amending the requirements governing how tenants can respond to an offer of sale of their building. In 2009, the Council adopted emergency and temporary versions of Bill 18-179, the “Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Preservation Clarification Act of 2009.” The 2009 emergency and temporary legislation initially mirrored the permanent bill’s language, allowing tenants in housing accommodations with four units or less to file their statements of interest by hand-delivery or by first-class mail, as the law already allows in buildings of five or more units.

In the emergency and temporary bills the Council ultimately adopted, all references to “first-class mail” were replaced with “certified-mail” to afford tenants greater protection. With the March 2 change, however, tenants will continue to have the option of responding by hand or by certified mail. The permanent bill, though still pending, is expected to adopt the same changes.

Housing Committee Sets Hearing on Rental Housing Bills

Bill 18-548, the “Rent Increase Amendment Act of 2009”
Introducer: Barry Co-Sponsors: Cheh, Graham, Thomas, Mendelson, Alexander, MBrown, KBrown, Evans, Gray

B18-598, “Tenant Organization Petition Standing Amendment Act of 2009”
Introducer: Graham Co-Sponsors: Mendelson, Brown, Thomas

The Housing and Workforce Development Committee has scheduled an April 1 hearing on the above bills. Bill 18-548 proposes to eliminate the ability to conditionally implement a rent increase requested in a hardship petition. There are two DC Court of Appeals decisions from early in the history of rent control regarding legal problems that arise when a housing provider is not permitted to take a hardship increase until a hardship petition is decided. As such, it is questionable whether the Council can proceed with this bill. AOBA will certainly raise this concern at the hearing. The second bill proposes to amend the Rental Housing Act to grant a tenant organization standing to represent a tenant in any petition proceeding where the tenant authorizes the tenant organization to do so.

AOBA members will receive an Action Alert shortly soliciting comments and inviting participation in the April 1 hearing.

Updated Information on WASA’s Proposed FY 2011 Rate Increases

In the February At Issue, AOBA published the DC Water and Sewer Authority’s (WASA) proposed rate changes for FY 2011. At that time, only the combined increase for the water and sewer rates was available. Please see the amended chart below, which now lists the proposed increases for the water and sewer rates separately. Per WASA, the combined water/sewer volumetric rate increase would equate to 12.5%, most of which is due to the exhaustion of the rate stabilization fund in current and past years. WASA is also seeking to increase the customer metering fee, based on meter size. For more information about these proposed increases, please see the Feb. 4 WASA Board Resolution. If adopted, the proposed increases will take effect on Oct. 1, 2010.

Oversight Budget Season in DC

There are still a few remaining performance oversight hearings scheduled for March. Please contact AOBA if you are interested in testifying regarding a particular agency. AOBA members are also asked to review the list below and provide the following information to AOBA:

1. Identify any concerns regarding the agency’s performance. For example, with respect to DCRA, are there ongoing issues with elevator licenses?
2. Identify any areas of improvement in the agency’s performance.

COUNCIL HEARING SCHEDULE

DC Agencies on the Move – DCRA and OTR to Relocate; DDOE Settles Into New Space

February 19 - DC Department of the Environment (DDOE) Moved to 1200 First Street NE: This move brings together the divisions that were formerly located at the Reeves Center, 2000 14th Street NW, and at 51 N Street, NE. Employee telephone numbers remain the same and the agency’s main line is still (202) 535-2600.

March 12 - Move Date for Office of Tax and Revenue: OTR will begin moving its offices to 1101 4th Street, SW – West building. The new location is conveniently adjacent to the Waterfront-SEU Metro station on the Green line.  OTR is instructing taxpayers in need of customer service assistance to continue visiting 941 North Capitol Street until approximately April 20th, as OTR’s Customer Service Centers will remain at the North Capitol Street building. The new location will be open to the public on Monday, April 26. All telephone numbers will remain the same. The customer service number is 727-4TAX (4829).  Taxpayers planning to visit OTR in April should call or check the OTR Web site www.taxpayerservicecenter.com for the most current information on the relocation.

March 22 - Move Date for DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs: DCRA is also moving from its current North Capitol location to 1100 4th Street, SW. DCRA’s last day at 941 North Capitol Street, NE is March 19 and the agency will reopen on March 22 at its new location. For more information about DCRA’s move, please click on the DCRA Relocation Page.

Expect Road Closures for 5th Annual SunTrust National Marathon and Half Marathon on March 20

On Saturday, March 20, 2010, 12,000 qualified runners will race through the streets of Washington, D.C. as they make their way through six of the District’s eight wards as part of the 5th Annual SunTrust National Marathon and Half Marathon.

Location and Road Closures: The race starts at 7:00 a.m. at RFK Stadium. The marathon and half marathon will run the same course for the first 13.1 miles. The northern loop of the course will begin street closures at approximately 7:00am and opening up again as early as 9:00am. Full marathon runners will continue on the southern loop of the course closing streets approximately 8:15am with the remaining streets opening by 12:30pm. During the race, cars may be metered across the course only when safe. Traffic metering will be monitored by Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers stationed along the course. For easiest access, avoid the race course and follow the recommended directions around the road closures.

AOBA members should avoid the race course and refer to the street closure table. For more information about the race visit the event website at National Marathon (www.nationalmarathon.com).