Fast Results Vowed on Federal Land Study

Survey Could Boost D.C. Coffers by Targeting Property to Be Turned Over to City

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III says he's not sure whether a land turnover would significantly help the District. (File Photo)

The White House budget official heading a comprehensive survey of federal land in the District for possible redevelopment by the city hopes to have a list of target properties within weeks and decisions within months.

Stephen S. McMillin, associate director at the Office of Management and Budget, said in an interview yesterday that the administration believes federal properties sitting idle should not be withheld from city use simply for jurisdictional reasons.

If the District has ideas about how to make some underused federal land more productive, the government will be open to them, rather than acting as a "squatter,'' McMillin said. "Frankly it's not doing us any good anyway. "

McMillin's comments provided a glimpse of how White House officials might grant the District use of some federally owned parks, waterfront property or larger parcels to boost the city's tax base. The initiative, proposed in the president's $2.57 trillion budget released Monday, has been greeted with caution by some local lawmakers. They question how far the White House will go to ease the city's chronic fiscal problems.

While federal agencies that manage properties are leery of ceding control, McMillin, whose office oversees general government programs, said that President Bush has made it clear that he supports revitalizing the capital.

"Let's lean forward and see if the federal interest can be balanced with the local interest and not simply be an advocate for our own narrow interest," McMillin said.

The notion of a review was raised last month between Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) and Office of Management and Budget Director Joshua B. Bolten, McMillin said. It follows the president's desire to speed an economic renaissance in the District at a time when the government is short on cash to help directly.

Land-use transactions are a relatively low-cost option that Williams has pursued to boost commercial redevelopment of sites from Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium to the Anacostia River waterfront and from the proposed baseball stadium site near South Capitol Street to the Southwest waterfront.

The potential impact to the city could be significant. The federal government holds 39 percent of city property, or 500 million square feet of land in 3,000 properties, according to the District. Congress reported in 2003 that the District loses out on $470 million to $1.1 billion a year in revenue largely because such land cannot be taxed and because Congress exempts nonresidents who work in the District from paying local income taxes.

"I don't think this will make up for our structural deficit, but I think this is a meaningful, substantive, exciting offer," Williams (D) said yesterday. "We get to jar loose the morass we're in right now . . . I think it's a good departure."

McMillin said that he expects talks to include federal agencies and that OMB will reach out to members of Congress. "The train is still in the station. It's fueled up and we're blowing the whistle, but there's still time to get on board," said OMB spokesman Chad Kolton.

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), who chairs the House Government Reform Committee, which oversees the District, praised the Bush initiative as "a good start." He said, however, that he did not know whether it would significantly address the city's deep financial shortcomings.

"Although you'd much rather have a basic restructuring and so on, this [land review] can be a piece of that puzzle. It doesn't hurt," Davis said. "But you just don't know if we're asking for a dollar and getting a penny, or if it's a few pennies or maybe more."

Davis criticized the Bush White House for failing to take up several issues involving the District, from proposals to expand the House to include a voting representative from the city, to "nickel-and-diming the District" by declining to pay $12 million in costs for the presidential inauguration.

"I've expressed that concern to the White House. We ought to have a point of contact so we can work together," Davis said.

He added: "Things are so difficult right now . . . this is better than nothing, but we'd like to see them more engaged in more serious discussions."

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, senior Democrat on a House panel that oversees federal buildings, said she hoped the District would benefit from the initiative. But, she said, the Federal Property Act prohibits the free transfer of federal land.

Parkland raises other issues, Norton said. She said she is working on alternative legislation and intergovernmental agreements to help the District gain access to sites that could spur development.

"Both the General Services Agency and the [National] Park Service are extraordinarily cooperative agencies," Norton said.

"They will work with us. We can get done what we need to get done."

Staff writer Lori Montgomery contributed to this report.