On August 24, 2023, the D.C. Policy Center’s report, Remote work and the future of D.C. (Part 2): What does remote work mean for the District of Columbia’s tax base?, was cited by the Washington Examiner:
A 2022 study by the D.C. Policy Center found that 137 of 733 large office buildings in the city had higher than 25% vacancy rates, causing property owners to start filing challenges to property tax assessments from the city. That is coupled with the fact that the assessed value of the same office buildings dropped from $69 billion to 60% billion in 2021, according to city data.
In February, Washington Chief Financial Officer Glen Lee said a continuation of the remote work policy poses “a serious long-term risk to the District’s economy and its tax base.”
That concern is borne out in the D.C. Policy Center’s analysis, which found that if the city’s roughly 155,000 commuters worked from home three days per week, the city could see $62.9 million in sales tax revenue losses.
Read more: Families prepare for federal demand to return to in-person work | Washington Examiner