WASHINGTON, DC-Congress is lurching yet again to another crisis: next week, depending on what the House of Representatives decides to do, the federal government could well shut down. For the national commercial real estate industry this news is probably being met with a shrug, along with the rest of the country. More worrisome is the looming fight over the debt ceiling and its potential default.

For Washington DC's commercial real estate, though, the shutdown has a serious consequence: no trash pick. Granted many commercial buildings and condos use private contractors and they will not be impacted. But selling property and putting together deals in a city with lackluster fundamentals becomes even more challenging when trash is littering the street.

The reason lies in the peculiar relationship the District has with Congress—the city's budget is appropriated by Congress even though it is funded by local taxpayers. In past shutdowns the city has been able to keep emergency operations running, but not such niceties as trash pick up.

Enter Mayor Vincent C. Gray, who in an unprecedented decision has declared all District government operations as essential during a potential shutdown of the federal government.

"I have determined that everything the District government does--protecting the health, safety and welfare of our residents and visitors--is essential," said Mayor Gray in a letter sent to the head of the federal Office of Management and Budget.

DC has balanced its budget for 18 consecutive years and has a rainy-day fund of well over a billion dollars, he pointedly noted while "Congress can't even get its own fiscal house in order; they should be taking lessons from us rather than imposing needless suffering on us."