B 26-0421 Legislature · 26th Council Period (2025-2026)

Soul of the City Business Improvement District Amendment Act of 2025

This bill (B 26-0421) authorizes the creation of the "Soul of the City Business Improvement District" (BID) in a specific geographic area of Washington, D.C., as defined in the bill's boundary description. It allows the BID to collect local fees (referred to as "BID taxes") from nonexempt properties within its boundaries to fund neighborhood improvements like street cleaning, safety, and beautification. The BID requires Mayor approval before implementation and would operate until its dissolution or the bill's expiration.

Bill status signed all 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Oct 2025

Committee Review

Dec 2025

Council Passage

Feb 2026

Signed into Law

May 2026

Introduced Oct 6, 2025 Signed May 1, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Engrossment → Enrollment · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was finalized into its enrolled version, which includes substantive corrections to the effective date and legal citations. The most significant change is the shift from a 2025 to a 2026 effective date for the new taxes, accompanied by a corresponding update to the act's title. Additionally, the legal references were adjusted to cite a related emergency amendment (Act 26-246) rather than the committee print, ensuring the boundary descriptions align with the final approved legislation.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding the geographic boundaries of the BID remains unchanged, but the timeline for when the BID taxes become effective was moved forward from 2025 to 2026.

TIMELINE

The effective date for the Soul of the City BID taxes was changed from April 1, 2026, to the half-tax year beginning April 1, 2026, and the act's title was updated to reflect the year 2026 instead of 2025.

DEFINITION

The legal citation for the boundary approval was updated to reference the 'Soul of the City Business Improvement District Emergency Amendment Act of 2026 (D.C. Act 26-246)' instead of the committee print from December 2025.

REQUIREMENT

The required approval process was updated to cite sections 6 and 7 of the Business Improvement Districts Act instead of sections 5 and 6.

Floor votes · Council Feb 3, 2026

How they voted

13–0

Passed

Total votes 13

Feb 3, 2026

D Democratic11

11 Yea

100% Yea

I Independent2

2 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Feb 3, 2026

Council · Passed

Council Vote: pass (13-0)

council

Feb 3, 2026

Introduced

Amendment (Mendelson and TWhite)

legislature

Dec 17, 2025

Legislature · Passed

Committee Mark-up of B26-0421 by the Business and Economic Development Committee

legislature

Oct 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to Committee on Business and Economic Development

legislature

Oct 6, 2025

Introduced

B26-0421 Introduced by Councilmember T. White at Office of the Secretary

legislature

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors