Category Archives: Uncategorized

3300 block of P St.

This Saturday, GM will be again assisting in a walking tour from Dumbarton House to talk about trees. He had a great time doing it last year and looks forward to doing it again. Here’s the info:

Welcome spring and warmer weather with a tour highlighting the trees that line the idyllic streets of Georgetown. We’ll celebrate spring as we peep at a wide variety of species and enjoy the beautiful flora of the neighborhood. Continue reading →

Photo by Bill Starrels.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Catching up with the woman who got a full-ride to GU while living in a DC homeless shelter on the ocassion of her graduation.
• Bharati, the Indian restaurant that moved into the former Dolcezza space closed. (GM believes they closed up after the French market).

Pomander Walk

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• A personal endorsement from GM if you’re having lumbar disc issues. Go see Dr. Kalantar!
• Police forcibly remove the protestors occupying the Venezuelan embassy.

1500 block of 35th St.

Come out June 7th at 6:30 at Georgetown Visitation for the Friends of Volta Park’s annual spring cocktail party and silent auction. It’s always a great way to celebrate the arrival of the season and catch up with neighbors. Buy tickets at Voltapark.org. See you there!

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GU moving to expel student admitted via fraud.
• How the Venezuelan protests have impacted the neighbors.

3300 block of Q St.

Councilmember David Grosso has proposed a new “mansion tax” for residences throughout the District. While the name would suggest it would only apply to places with butlers, and lead pipes in the conservatory, and such, that’s not quite true. Depending on how much your home is assessed, it could apply to you. Here’s how.

The tax only would kick in for assessed values over $1.5 million. So if you merely own a humble abode of $1.5 million or less, you wouldn’t be affected.

Now before we go further, keep in mind that this is for assessed values, not true market values. And it would probably only really apply to taxable assessed values, which is often less than the overall assessment due to various things such as the homestead deduction. So if you’re not sure, pull out your tax bill and see what your taxable assessment is.

Ok, so you’re part of the lucky ones that own a house assessed for more that $1.5 million, your tax bill still won’t go up that much, at least not until we get to the real pricey territory.

Here’s how real estate taxes work: The city takes your taxable assessed value, divides it by 100, then multiplies it by $0.85. So if your home has a taxable assessment of $1 million, they divide it by 100 (which gives you 10,000), then multiply that by $0.85. Thus your annual tax bill would be $8,500. (As an aside, this is really a very low tax rate. Arlington taxes $0.996 per $100 assessment. Montgomery County’s rates vary by neighborhood, but are all well over $1.00 pr $100). Continue reading →