ABOUT THE BID TAX
The Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District (MVT CID) is funded by a supplemental real property tax called a business improvement district (BID) tax. Funds provided by the BID tax, which is levied on residential, commercial (office and retail), hotel, and undeveloped land properties in the neighborhood, are used to support designated programs, projects or services that include:
- Clean & Safe Services (including Clean Team Ambassadors)
- Marketing & Community Events
- Real Estate & Economic Development
- Parks, Art & Culture
- Transit & Public Realm Improvements
- Workforce Development
- Stakeholder Advocacy
Non-exempt MVT CID property owners receive a combined real property and BID tax bill; see below for further information. First half BID tax payments are due September 15 and second half BID tax payments are due March 31. MVT CID tax rates for FY 2022 (covering October 1, 2021 – September 30, 2022) are below:
- $134.00 per residential unit ($67.00/unit each bill)
- $0.1685 per rental square foot of commercial space ($0.08425/RSF each bill)
- $102.00 per hotel room ($51.00/room each bill)
- $0.3925 per vacant land square foot ($0.19625/LSF each bill)
Payment of your MVT CID tax bill is made to the DC Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR), which is the government agency responsible for processing your tax payment and transferring funds to the MVT CID. While the MVT CID is not directly involved in the processing of your taxes, we want to assist you to ensure that your interaction with OTR goes as smoothly as possible.
MYTAX.DC.GOV
In Spring 2021, OTR launched MyTax.DC.gov—a new site that allows DC taxpayers to manage all real property (including BID), individual income and business taxes online. As part of the new system, taxpayers receive a single bill for both real property and BID taxes.
How does this affect your BID tax payment?
- Property owners receive one unified bill for all real property and BID taxes including any penalties, interest, and fees owed.
- In compliance with DC law, all payments will first satisfy real property tax and related penalties, interest and fees before your BID tax is paid.
- Only Property Owners of Record can request address or contact information changes through MyTax.DC.gov. This means the Mount Vernon Triangle CID is not able process courtesy change of address requests on owners’ behalf
- Wells Fargo no longer accepts real property tax payments.
What should you do?
- Register for an account at MyTax.DC.gov. You will need:
- The “Notice Number” listed on a letter received from OTR.
- The most recent tax return or payment information, depending on the tax account type.
- Verify your address and contact information.
- Notify your mortgage lender, payment servicer, and/or title company to ensure their awareness of the system.
BID tax payment process if you’re responsible for paying your real property taxes
- Visit MyTax.DC.gov
- Scroll to the Real Property section of the page
- Select Make a Real Property Payment
- On the Real Property Search page enter your Square and Lot number (SSL). Click Search and then click the hyperlinked SSL.
- Follow the payment instructions until payment has been made.
- Note: Real Property and BID tax are included in the same bill, so you will see just one number for both, and when you pay both, both will be paid.
BID tax payment process if your mortgage company pays your real property taxes
- Since not all mortgage companies are aware of the BID tax and/or whether they pay them on your behalf, MVT CID recommends property owners call their mortgage company and simply ask the amount they intend to pay when remitting your property taxes.
- If the answer is the total amount due that’s shown on your tax bill including the BID tax, then you should be OK with doing nothing and your tax will be paid by the mortgage company.
- If the answer is just the real property tax amount that’s shown on your tax bill, then notify them about the BID tax and ask if they can also pay it.
- If the answer to this request is yes, we recommend tracking your payment on the MyTax.DC.gov website to ensure the total amount has been paid. We can also do this for you.
- If the answer to this request is no, then you will have to pay the BID tax separately via MyTax DC.gov. But please see below for an important caveat regarding when this payment should be made.
- If paying the BID tax separately via MyTax.DC.gov because your mortgage company will not pay it for you, it is highly recommended that you pay the BID tax after your real property tax has been paid. That is because DC prioritizes how payments are applied, with real property taxes being superior to BID taxes
- Example: If you owe $100 in real property taxes, and $5 in BID taxes, and pay the $5 for BID taxes before your real property taxes are paid, then the mortgage company could pay just the $95 in real property taxes that are owed and you would still owe $5 in BID taxes. This is all because of the payment priority established by DC law and the fact that your BID tax payment, which was paid first, was applied to real property in support of settling that obligation.
Need Assistance?
- Additional questions may be routed to the OTR Customer Service Center at (202) 727-4TAX (4829).
- For assistance with MyTax.DC.gov and/or account-related questions, please contact OTR’s e-Services Unit at (202) 759-1946 or email e-services.otr@dc.gov from 8:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Please don’t hesitate to contact our office at info@mvtcid.org should you experience any major issues with viewing or paying your BID tax so that we can alert and provide feedback to OTR. And as always thank you for your continued support of the Mount Vernon Triangle CID.
Last Updated: September 1, 2021
