DERRILL HOLLY
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected efforts by the District of Columbia to impose a commuter tax on people who work in the city but live elsewhere.
Federal law requires the city to get permission from Congress to tax an estimated 500,000 people who come into D.C. each day from Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
The district was suing to overturn that law. But the justices declined, without comment, to revisit an appeals court ruling in November upholding the ban, citing Congress' authority over the city.
The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit included John G. Roberts, who has since become chief justice of the United States. Roberts did not take part in Monday's decision.
It was the latest in a series of legal setbacks for city government leaders, who have sought for years to gain an economic benefit from workers, students and others who use roads, bridges and other city services, but pay no taxes.
"Even if the district government were the most perfectly managed government in the country, it couldn't possibly provide the services that are needed by residents, nonresidents, visitors and the federal government," said Walter Smith, a lawyer who helped argue the city's case.
But attorneys for Maryland and Virginia warned a commuter tax would drain tax dollars from their states. They also argued that the district is a unqiue federal municipality and enjoys benefits over other cities.
New York, Philadelphia and other cities have commuter taxes, and nonresidents can deduct the expense from their own state income taxes.
"The obligation is on the federal treasury" to provide extra money to D.C., said Michael D. Berman, deputy chief of litigation for the Maryland attorney general's office, which filed briefs in the case.
City officials said they were disappointed in the ruling but pledged to keep the debate alive.
"The infrastructure of our city is obviously taxed by the daily wear and tear of tens of thousands of commuters who work in the district but who do not pay for the city services that they use," Mayor Anthony A. Williams said in a statement.
Councilman Adrian Fenty, who is running for mayor, said the ruling raises the possibility of a voter referendum to note the city's objection to the court's decision. "No resident of this city is going to give up," he said.
According to the General Accounting Office, the district suffers from a structural imbalance resulting in a budget shortfall of $470 million to $1.1 billion annually.
A bill introduced by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., and Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va. would provide $800 million annually to help offset the city's expenses. It has bipartisan support from all members of the region's congressional delegation.
