7TH E E X A M I N ER T U E SDAY, SEP TEM BER 2 9, 2009
By Bill Myers
Examiner Staff Writer
Washingtonians will have two
new faces greeting them on the
city's premier personality, power
and politics page. Nikki Schwab and
Tara Palmeri are taking over as The
Examiner's new Yeas & Nays team.
Schwab reported for the U.S.
News & World Report's widely read
"Washington Whispers" column and
also produced that feature on U.S.
News' Web site. She will join the
team in two weeks.
BeforejoiningTheExaminer,Palm-
erihadbeenanewsassistantatCNN,
whereherdutiesincludedproducing
a daily political podcast. Her first
appearance is in Tuesday's paper.
Both women are graduates of
American University -- Palmeri
has a bachelor's degree in commu-
nications and Schwab a master's in
communications.
"Our new team will continue the
Yeas & Nays tradition of providing
inside information on celebrities
and local events, as well as exclu-
sive political bits that public officials
hope will never see the light of day,"
Examiner Editor Stephen G. Smith
said. "Nikki and Tara will also do
more blogging, tweeting, and updat-
ing on the Web. The print section
will represent the best of their
online work."
Yeas & Nays is one of The Exam-
iner's signature features. In three
years it has become a daily neces-
sity -- some say addiction -- for an
increasingly hip Washington region.
Schwab and Palmeri follow the team
of Kiki Ryan and Yeas co-founder
Jeff Dufour.
bmyers@washingtonexaminer.com
Examiner debuts new Yeas & Nays team
By Bill Myers
Examiner Staff Writer
A new law that will tax the sales
of apartment co-ops is supposed to
take effect this week. But few -- even
among city hall officials -- seem to
know what the law says.
Cooperative owners and real
estate experts say they're not sure
what will happen when the law takes
effect Thursday.
"There's a dearth of guidance on
this," said David Horrigan, president
of the District of Columbia Coop-
erative Housing Coalition. Owners
"haven't received any instruction
on how it's supposed to be collected,
how it's supposed to be remitted
-- none of those things."
The D.C. Council passed a final
version of the tax last week but
hasn't handed over the new law to
the city tax office, spokeswoman
Natalie Wilson said. Yet that won't
stop the tax office from collecting
the tax starting Thursday.
In the meantime, the finance office
is using "unofficial information" for
guidance--andanyanswer"remains
subject to change," Wilson said.
The new tax is part of Mayor
Adrian Fenty's effort to close a bud-
get gap. The administration hopes to
raise nearly $23 million over the next
four years from hundreds of city co-
ops, Wilson said.
But the guessing game has the
D.C. Council's switchboard working
overtime.
"We've been having hot and heavy
e-mailtrafficonthatsucker,"saidJeff
Coudriet, an aide to D.C. Councilman
Jack Evans, D-Ward 2, who chairs the
council's finance committee.
Co-ops have been in the District
since the 1920s. Unlike condos --
where a piece of property is bought
-- a purchaser is buying "shares" in a
quasi-corporation and gets use of the
apartment for his or her buy. Owners
haveusedthatdistinctiontoescapereal
estate sales taxes for generations.
Some real estate brokers are using
the tax confusion to get buyers mov-
ing before Thursday's deadline.
"It was a big incentive to get them
settled," agent Katie Wethman said.
bmyers@washingtonexaminer.com
D.C.'s new co-op tax: Questions, few answers
LOCAL NEWS
ANDREW HARNIK/EXAMINER
David Horrigan, president of the D.C. Cooperative Housing Coalition, says co-op
owners need more information on a new tax that takes effect Thursday.
ANDREW HARNIK/EXAMINER
Nikki Schwab, left, and Tara Palmeri are taking over Yeas & Nays.
By Kytja Weir
Examiner Staff Writer
Metro plans to keep its trains
running late so U2 fans can take
Metrorail home after Tuesday's
concert at FedEx Field.
Only the Morgan Boulevard sta-
tion on the Blue Line, about one mile
from the stadium, will let riders
enter until 1 a.m. All other stations
will be closed to riders entering the
stations at the normal closing time
of midnight, according to Metro. But
the trains will keep running late to
get riders home.
The Redskins are paying $27,000
to keep the station open and run the
extra train service for the U2 360
Tour, Metro spokeswoman Taryn
McNeil said.
kweir@washingtonexaminer.com
Metro to stay open late for U2 fans
New co-op tax
A new tax on the sale of apart-
ment co-ops takes effect Thurs-
day. Here are some facts about
co-ops and the tax:
� There are about 300 co-ops in
D.C.
� The new tax is expected to raise
about $5.1 million in fiscal 2010
and $22.8 million in fiscal 2010-13.
� The tax takes 2.2 percent of
sales less than $400,000.
� The tax takes 2.9 percent of
sales $400,000 or more.
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