DC Government

“DC recordation tax?”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by Jim Havard

“Dear PoPville,

We did a cash-out refinance in DC and were charged a recordation tax (“state mortgage tax / stamps to hold for recording”) in addition to the recordation fee. It seems to us that we shouldn’t have been charged the tax. Can real estate lawyers in the Popville cotillion help us either be convinced we were correctly charged the tax or prove to our lender and settlement company why this was incorrect? This is for an owner-occupied home in DC with no other units. Any help you all can provide would be greatly appreciated!

“According to DDOT’s survey, 89% of local businesses operating a streatery overwhelmingly support a permanent DDOT Streatery Program.”

By Prince Of Petworth

From the Mayor’s Office:

“Mayor Muriel Bowser called on the Council of the District of Columbia to take up and pass the Reopen Washington, DC Alcohol Act to help support the District’s recovery and provide innovative approaches to help rebuild the District’s economy. The Bowser Administration released two public surveys conducted by the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and the Office of Planning (OP) showing broad support for the DC Streatery Program, and that restaurants have experienced positive economic benefits by participating in the DC Streatery Program. According to DDOT’s survey, 89% of local businesses operating a streatery overwhelmingly support a permanent DDOT Streatery Program.

“Our local business community has been resilient, but we know that to get through this pandemic and ultimately recover, we will also need to seize this opportunity to be bold and innovative,” said Mayor Bowser. “The Streatery Program has been one example of a lifeline that helped businesses operate safely, stay afloat, keep their employees on the payroll. We look forward to working with the Council to extend the Streatery Program, even after the public health emergency ends.”

Proposed provisions in the Reopen Washington, DC Alcohol Act include: (more…)

“It’s progress.”

By Prince Of Petworth

Readers report: “There is now a waiting room”

“It’s progress.”

“Way better today.”

“It worked. Smooth. Got in for next week.”

“I got one with zero issues! Good luck, everyone!”

“No issues today! Woohoo”

“It works!!! It also tells you which vaccine is being offered which is nice.”

“Success! Much faster and easier than prior weeks. Secured an appointment within minutes.”

Good Morning, Today is Monday March 1st and that used to mean

By Prince Of Petworth

The start of street sweeping and finding proper parking spaces. Alas on March 15th 2020, almost a year ago, street sweeping was suspended for the public health emergency. DPW confirmed street sweeping would remain suspended during phase two of the public health emergency. As we are still in phase two it seems there is still no need to move those cars. Will update should DPW/the Mayor’s office change that directive.

Today in Vaccine Appointment Registration Frustration

By Prince Of Petworth

You are not alone, again.

Readers report: “How did the DC COVID website crash again!?!? Third day in a row”

Despite the frustration there’s still a chance if you don’t get in at first:

“Just keep refreshing the page don’t start over. I was able to sign up after 10 minutes of just hitting refresh each time I got a “service unavailable” page after clicking to the next page. It’s really frustrating though…”

“Yes – keep hitting refresh! I had totally given up after the site crashed a bunch and was on hold for 30 minutes then read this, hit refresh and it went through”

Update from DC Health: “Appointments that opened today are filled. More available for eligible residents in priority zip codes on March 4. Additional appointments for all DC residents 65+, those with a qualifying medical condition (18+), and/or members of an eligible workforce group on Friday, March 5.”

The frustration though: (more…)

“How is someone in California expected to understand context or requirements of a project in DC?”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by Diane Krauthamer

“Dear PoPville,

I am an architectural designer and deal frequently with DCRA permitting services. The last project we submitted received comments, which is expected, but a number of the reviews — everything that isn’t DC-specific (Historic, DOEE & Zoning) — were handled by a single person whose e-mail address gave me pause. (more…)

Super Supercan Update: “they were just delivered”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

Happy almost-end-to-meteorological-winter!

I remember someone asking a few months back about garbage cans being backordered. We closed at the end of October and put in our order for garbage and recycling cans a couple of days later. I’m happy to say they were just delivered, 4.5 months later :) Not sure if it would be helpful to others to know about the timing of things, but I thought that I’d pass along the information.”

Early Reports Indicate Vaccine Appointments Not Going Well, Again

By Prince Of Petworth

Ed. Note: They’ll be another chance Saturday for those in priority zip codes (see below) due to yesterday’s malfunction.

Some early reports from this morning: “and today the Captcha is broken.”

“DC has got to do something different with this vaccination portal. Who is being held accountable for this ongoing failure?!”

“Captcha not working on DC vaccination website. Keeps telling me it’s incorrect when it isn’t. Happened three times now.”

“The perks of knowing http errors: got through past 1 page of the DC Covid Vaccine system and got a 503 error (system is overloaded or down). Cool cool cool cool.”

“Made it past the captcha and got this” (above)

From DC Health yesterday: (more…)

Well That Didn’t Go Well

By Prince Of Petworth

Thanks to all who’ve messaged us:

“I’m eligible for the vaccine based on zip code, health and occupation, so of course I clicked to register at exactly 9am today.

At the end, I got a message saying “Thank you, […] registration is only open for those 65 and older”. No appointment, no find a location page.

Anyone else have this (incorrect) message at the end? Not sure what to do without registering multiple times trying to get to a correct page.”

Updated response from a reader: “Thank you for contacting DC Health. We are aware of the technological error and are working diligently to resolve it. At this time, please continue to monitor the website and book your appointment via https://vaccinateqa.dc.gov/”

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