Responses: 6. Income Tax

6. Do you agree with DC’s current income tax structure? Check Yes or No. If No, how would you change it?

Biddle: Yes.

Douglas: No. I believe that the tax structure should be more balanced so that every citizen equitably (according to their income) shares in the expenses of the District.

Lopez: No. I do not support the current tax structure. I am a supporter of a progressive tax increase. The District is facing a huge budget shortfall and the current economic model is unstable. Residents who fall in the lowest salary bracket should not have their taxes increased. If elected I would propose legislation that allows people who make over $200,000 to have their taxes increased by 1%. However, this tax increase would have a sunset clause. Once the economy picks back up and the District’s budget stabilizes then this tax increase would expire.

Mara: No. The reality is that our current tax structure is hugely non-competitive when compared with neighboring jurisdictions. Thus, when relocating to the Metro area, people are naturally inclined to move to Maryland or Virginia. With high tax rates comes a smaller tax base and ultimately less revenues. I strongly oppose any proposals to increase income taxes in DC.

Page: No. I do not believe the top tax bracket should start at $40,001, as it does currently. This is fiscally unsound and I think it is morally questionable to ask residents who earn $41,000 a year to pay the same tax rate (8.5%) as residents who earn $41 million a year. I would add a new tax bracket of 9.5% for annual income over $200,000.

Weaver: No. I firmly believe the entire D.C. tax code needs to be re-written from top to bottom and at a minimum we need to expand our income brackets to at least six brackets. I would suggest one new bracket at $124K, another bracket at $350K and another bracket at $1.5M

While this would lessen the tax burden for some of our city's neediest residents, it would also more equitably distribute the burden and increase revenue without a dramatic increase in taxes.