DISTRICT BRIEFING

D.C. COUNCIL

Increases Approved in Parking Meter Fees

The D.C. Council passed legislation yesterday to increase parking meter rates from $1 to $2 an hour downtown and by 25 cents an hour in other parts of the city.

The bill is meant to raise an additional $11 million in fiscal 2009 for several programs: the Local Rental Supplement Program, the Housing First program (for homeless people), the Home Purchase Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

A provision that would have enforced meter fees on Saturdays in the central business district was cut from the bill on the grounds that without free curbside parking, people would go to the suburbs to shop.

-- Hamil R. Harris

Bill to Revise Storm Water Charges Passes

The D.C. Council yesterday approved a bill that would rework the way that homeowners and business owners are charged for improvements to the city's storm water system.

The bill would charge owners a fee based on how much of their property is covered by a building, by asphalt or by other substances that prevent rainwater from seeping in. The money would be used to pay for projects that trap and filter rainwater, such as trees and plant-covered "green roofs."

City officials said that for next year the charge would be $1.24 a month for a single-family house, an amount that might change as the city performs individual estimates, and about $11,000 for a typical office building. In most cases, they said, the new fees would not be higher than the current storm water fee, which is based on water use. One exception would be parking lots, which would pay far more.

The bill needs to be signed by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), a spokesman for the city Department of the Environment said.