7SU N DAY, J U LY 26, 2009T H E E X A M I N ER
LOCAL NEWS
By Michael Neibauer
Examiner Staff Writer
More than 5,000 D.C. property
owners, including a powerful Wash-
ington lobbyist, a developer and a
nightclub owner, failed to pay their
2008 real estate taxes and now face
the prospect of losing their holdings
to hungry bidders during the city's
annual tax auction.
The number of liens listed in the
Office of Tax and Revenue's annual
pretax sale advertisement soared
from roughly 3,400 last year to more
than 5,200 this year, an increase of
about 65 percent. The total amount
of taxes owed tops $27.25 million.
It is a sign, observers say, of a
recessionary economy that has hit
average homeowners and wealthy
landowners alike. Many of the back
bills total only a few hundred dollars.
Others are well over $100,000.
"We're not different from any-
where else in the country," said
Richie McKeithen, director of OTR's
Real Property Tax Administration.
"We're suffering economywise, and
the economy has a lot to do with
people being able to pay bills."
Among OTR's list of delinquent
taxpayers, published last week, is
lobbyist Anthony Podesta, who owes
$696.32 on his 6,600-square-foot
home on Belmont Road in Kalorama.
In tax year 2008, according to city
records, Podesta paid $33,935 of his
$34,483 bill.
Podesta, chairman of the Podesta
Group, said Friday he received no
notice from the city.
"We don't even pay the taxes," he
said. "They're paid by the bank. If
they sell my house, I'm going to sue
the bank."
Developer Christopher Donatelli
and his wife, Karen, according to
OTR, owe $13,569 on their Gates
Road home -- scene of Mayor
Adrian Fenty's 38th birthday bash.
Donatelli said Friday he "definitely
paid that," but the city's database
has yet to show the payment.
Also on the list are Love night-
club at 1350 Okie St. NE and Okie
Truck Service at 1356 Okie -- both
owned by entertainment guru Marc
Barnes. The two properties com-
bined have back tax bills totaling
$48,064.
"Ours isn't going to be on there,"
Barnes said Friday. "We're paying
the tax."
The Sept. 9 to11 tax sale brings
together bankers, investors and
opportunists who hope to snag real
estate on the cheap. But in the vast
majority of cases, even if the prop-
erty is auctioned, the owner pays
the tax bill long before the deed
changes hands.
Either way, the D.C. government
recoups its real estate taxes, a
critical revenue source comprising
one-third of the city's general fund.
mneibauer@washingtonexaminer.com
In D.C., 5,200 property owners delinquent
Delinquents of note
� Commonwealth of the Phil-
lipines, 1617 Massachusetts Ave.
NW: $117,846
� Renaissance at M Street Hotel,
1143 New Hampshire Ave. NW:
$62,367
� Vincent Abell, 16 properties:
$55,511
By Hayley Peterson
Special to The Examiner
More than 100 representatives
from police unions, food banks,
employment programs and other
nonprofits packed into a hearing
room to beg D.C. Council members
to reconsider Mayor Adrian Fenty's
proposal to slash their share of the
2010 budget.
But council members reiterated
the cuts were inevitable.
"By 2011, we'll have a revenue
shortfall of $800 million, which,
unchecked, could sink the city,"
Council Chairman Vincent Gray
said Friday. "At the end of the day,
even after you make your passion-
ate plea, we're still faced with the
same problem."
Councilman Michael Brown
said D.C.'s deficit would stretch
into 2013 at the least. "Right now
we are in a storm. All is not good,"
he said.
So the various agencies and
organizations fought for themselves
in a daylong tug-of-war over the
District's imperiled grant money.
Fenty's proposal would cut
retirement benefits for all city
workers, including firefighters
and police, said Kris Baumann,
chairman of the District's police
union. Already, D.C.'s benefits are
not competitive enough to retain
top officers, he said.
"People don't want to work here,"
Baumann said, citing high turnover
of officers seeking better benefits
and adding that the force is already
200 cops short. "This is how down-
ward spirals start," he said.
Marina Stresnewski of D.C. Jobs
fought for 20 million of her agen-
cy's dollars that was transferred to
Fenty's summer youth employment
program. "The [youth] program
doesn't solve unemployment in
the region," she said. Sure, the pro-
gram reduces juvenile crime rates,
she said. But D.C. Jobs meets a
more pressing need in the District
-- where unemployment is nearly
11 percent -- she argued.
"The poor and the seniors and
the youth should not take the brunt
of the budget," said Councilman
Marion Barry. Half the room nod-
ded in agreement, dozens of them
senior citizens wearing bright-red
AARP T-shirts.
Board of Education President
Lisa Raymond asked the council to
restore the budget they approved
in May.
But Councilman Jack Evans
said public education was burn-
ing too large a hole in the District's
pocket. Public education grew the
budget by $712 million since 2006,
he said.
"If you want your money back,
where do you suggest we get it?"
Evans asked. "You are going to
have to take it from someone else.
... The alternative is a disaster for
the city."
Councilman Jim Graham repeat-
edly pushed for raising taxes on
the wealthy. Graham argued D.C.
should raise the tax rate 0.4 per-
cent on residents making an annual
income of more than $500,000
-- which would generate a total of
$16 million to $18 million.
"That's equitable, that's fair,"
Barry said in response. "That's as
American as apple pie."
D.C. Council hears just how badly
budget cuts will hurt the city
Name: Cardinal Bank % Herrmann Advert; Width: 34p8.4; Depth: 10.5 in;
Color: Black; File Name: 135771-0; Comment: REAL ESTATE BANKING;
Zone: PCaa

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