Funding for a contract between Georgetown Medical Center and the city of Washington, D.C., has been slashed by 10 percent in an effort to close the District’s $127 million budget gap.

The cuts to the Health Initiative Contract will impact a program that helps people with intellectual disabilities receive better health care, according to Marisa Brown, project director for the D.C. Health Resources Partnership at Georgetown.

“The cuts this year are somewhat minimal because … knowing that the city was having problems, we cut out some things already,” Brown said. “But the big question is what’s going to happen next.”

The Health Initiative Contract is a partnership between the city’s Department of Disabilities and services and the medical centers at Georgetown and The George Washington University. Both medical centers will lose 10 percent of funding. According to Brown, this is the first time the District has made cuts to an existing contract in her 25 years working at Georgetown.

“This has never happened before, so it’s a pretty big deal,” she said.

The cuts reflect the extent of the budget crisis that the city is facing. In addition to facing a $188 million deficit for 2011, the District’s projected budget deficit for 2012 is $600 million, as Mayor Vincent Gray announced Saturday.

In spite of this, the Fiscal Year 2011 Proposed Gap Closing Plan, which included the cuts to the Health Initiative Contract, does not include any tax increases.

The FY 2011 Plan passed the D.C. Council with 11 votes and only two dissenters on Dec. 7. It will come into effect after it is reviewed by Congress or in 30 days if it is not reviewed.