D.C. Council fixes May 15 budget submission deadline after mayor missed April 2 date

The Council of the District of Columbia unanimously approved emergency measures to set May 15 as the new submission date for the fiscal year 2026 budget after the mayor failed to deliver the proposal by the April 2 date the council had adopted, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said at a special legislative meeting.

Mendelson said the mayor's office did not reach "pencils down" until April 9, which started the chief financial officer's 10-day certification window. Because the CFO has said he will not certify the FY26 proposal as balanced until he also receives a supplemental or revised budget for the current fiscal year, Mendelson said the council must set a later submission deadline to preserve the schedule for committee hearings and readings.

The new schedule in the emergency resolution sets pencils-down for the mayor effectively on May 5 and a formal submission deadline of May 15, Mendelson said. Under that timetable, the council's first-reading public vote on the Local Budget Act would fall about July 10, with a second vote around July 24. Mendelson said the revenue estimates typically published June 30 are a timing risk because they could arrive too close to first reading if the schedule slips.

"We cannot keep waiting and waiting and seeing these, dates, these promises, vanish," Mendelson said, later adding, "if somehow in my voice there is a tone of anger, there is a tone of anger." He said the delay has held up review of other measures the council planned to consider, including the mayor's rental act and proposals related to the Commanders stadium and RFK site.

Council members asked for clarification about the calendar and the CFO's review timeline. "So if we're assuming that the budget is transmitted to us officially on May 15, then would that mean that our committee markups would be the week of June 16?" Council Member Pinto asked. Mendelson said the budget office would present a detailed schedule on May 6 and indicated markups would likely fall the week of June 16, with the committee of the whole hearing during that week.

Ben, the budget director who spoke to the council during the meeting, said the office planned to circulate a proposed schedule on May 6 and that the 56th day for the first reading would be July 10 under the May 15 submission timeline.

Council Member Nadeau asked whether the mayor had offered a justification for the delay; Mendelson said the mayor's team started work on the current-year supplemental the week of April 14 rather than preparing the FY26 package in parallel. Mendelson and other members said the congressional continuing resolution created a separate problem for the city's finances but was not the cause of the missed April 2 submission.

Mendelson said the chief financial officer had been inflexible about the 10-day certification timeline and that the council had sought flexibility to avoid compressing public hearings and first-reading timelines. He also said the council could seek legal remedies if the mayor failed to meet the May 15 date.

Both the preliminary declaration (PR26-181) and the underlying emergency approval resolution (PR26-182) passed unanimously; Mendelson moved both measures. The council did not record a roll-call vote for each member at the time of the ayes, but the meeting record shows all members present voted in favor.

The council scheduled a regular legislative meeting for May 6 and asked committees to file timely notices for any business they want considered at an anticipated additional Committee of the Whole meeting.

Votes at a glance

- PR26-181, Declaration regarding FY26 budget submission schedule: Moved by Chairman Phil Mendelson; second not specified; outcome: approved unanimously. Note: set new submission date of May 15 (pencils down effectively May 5).

- PR26-182, Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Submission Requirements, Emergency Approval Resolution of 2025: Moved by Chairman Phil Mendelson; second not specified; outcome: approved unanimously. Note: establishes schedule described above and requests the budget office circulate a schedule May 6.

The council's action changes the locally set schedule the council adopted in December and aims to preserve time for public hearings and committee markups while accommodating the CFO's certification requirement.