11/08/2017
Thank you Councilmember Brandon Todd for introducing the DC Cemetery Private Road and Parking Lot Exemption of Clean Water Fees Amendment Act of 2017!
At today’s DC Council legislative meeting, I introduced a bill to alleviate the crushing burden of water fees on District cemeteries, and another to incentivize the purchase of energy and water-efficient appliances.
The “D.C. Cemetery Private Road and Parking Lot Exemption of Clean Water Fees Amendment Act of 2017” comes in response to the dire financial situation of St. Paul’s Rock Creek Church Cemetery in Ward 4, and others like it across the District. In order to finance the Federally-mandated Clean Rivers Project – an extensive infrastructure project designed to reduce the amount of Combined Sewer Overflows into our waterways -- DC Water has implemented the Clean River Impervious Area Charge (IAC). This fee attempts to charge property owners for their individual contributions to stormwater management and fund a much-needed environmental project. But it also has the unintended consequence of threatening to run our cemeteries out of business. At St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Rock Creek Parish Cemetery, their annual water bill used to be approximately $3,500. Now, they’re being billed over $200,000 – most of which is Clean River fees. This is unsustainable, and without immediate action, we risk our cemeteries shutting down and becoming a burden to the community, rather than the asset they are. You can learn more about the problem here from Jodie Fleischer, NBC4: (https://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/Historic-DC-Cemeteries-in-Jeopardy-of-Closing-Due-to-Growing-Water-Bills-452918463.html). That is why I have introduced a narrowly-tailored piece of legislation that would exempt private roads and parking lots in DC cemeteries from being included in DC Water’s assessment of their Clean River fees. Cemeteries would still contribute funds to this project, which they are happy to do. However, $200,000 per year is too much to ask, and they need some relief.
Second, I also introduced the “Energy-Efficient and Water Efficiency Sales Tax Holiday Amendment Act of 2017” which would create two tax-free holidays for the purchase of ENERGY STAR and EPA WaterSense certified products. This would improve the District’s environmental performance, save residents money on their energy and water bills, and reduce the leakage of DC tax dollars into neighboring Maryland and Virginia, which both have similar tax-free weekends.
I strongly believe that these bills would make our District an even better place, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to get them passed by the DC Council!
