DC Residents Have Already Paid $1,013,552,816 in Federal Income Taxes

For more information contact: James Jones, Communications Director
202.462.6000 x12 office / 202.557.4864 mobile / jjones@dcvote.org

April 15, 2009

COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Office of At-Large Councilmember Kwame R. Brown
Chairperson, Committee on Economic Development
For More Information Contact:
Michael Price, Cell: (202) 445-4510




DC Residents Pay More Than $1 Billion in Federal Income Taxes on the Eve of the April 15th Tax Return Deadline

WASHINGTON – On the eve of the federal tax return deadline, District of Columbia residents had surpassed paying $1 billion in federal income taxes in 2009. A tax message billboard, installed by the Council outside of the John A. Wilson Building, keeps a running tally of taxes paid since the beginning of 2009. This afternoon, total taxes paid this year reached $1,013,552,816.98 (see attached photo taken today). The billboard was installed to raise awareness about the District’s fight for voting rights.

“The purpose of installing the ‘tax-ticker’ outside the District of Columbia’s City Hall was to draw attention to the fact that District residents pay the same federal taxes as all other American citizens, however, we do not have the same democratic representation in the United States Congress as all other American citizens,” said Chairman Vincent C. Gray. “Denying nearly 600,000 Americans our fundamental right is unconscionable, and Congress can end this injustice with the passage of the D.C. House Voting Rights Act without amendments.”

“District residents are struggling in this economy with 10 percent unemployment,” said At-Large Councilmember Kwame R. Brown, the author of the legislation that authorized the tax billboard. “We pay federal income taxes and are fulfilling our responsibilities by filing tax returns with the IRS. There are District residents fighting honorably in the military. How much more of a price do we have to pay? It’s time for Congress to do its part and pass the D.C. House Voting Rights Act.”

“Over 100 people participated at our Statehood Committee Roundtable last week” said At-Large Councilmember Michael A. Brown, Chairman of the Special Committee on Statehood and Self-Determination. “The tax-paying residents of the District of Columbia have clearly done our part. It is long past time for Congress to step to the plate and immediately give DC voting representation in Congress without a harmful gun rider, and ultimately full Statehood. Anything less would be undemocratic.”

“Taxation without representation is alive and well in the District of Columbia,” said Ilir Zherka, Executive Director of DC Vote. “Washingtonians, like all Americans, will rush to the post office this week to file their federal income taxes. But, unlike all Americans, DC residents are denied a vote in Congress. The citizens of the District routinely fulfill their duties as American citizens while being denied equal rights. It's time for Congress to pass a clean DC Voting Rights Act and end this injustice in our nation's capital.”

DC residents are currently paying an estimated $113.86 in federal income taxes per second. The tax message board will continue to run until District residents have been given full voting representation in Congress.

For more information, please contact Press Secretary Michael Price at 202-445-4510 or mprice@dccouncil.us.

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