A Reivew of Natwar Gandhi at DCCA Meeting
Dr. Natwar Gandhi at the Nov. 3 DCCA meeting. (Photo courtesy of DCCA on Flickr.)
David at Greater Greater Washington critiques D.C. Chief Financial Officer’s presentation/performance at the Dupont Circle Citizens Associaton (DCCA) meeting last Monday night, November 3:
I expected to find a confident, intelligent financial manager with a through grasp of DC finannces in DC CFO Natwar Gandhi when he spoke at the Dupont Circle Citizens’ Association meeting on Monday. What I discovered was a confident, intelligent financial manager who dodged almost every question and didn’t seem to know quite as much about DC’s financial situation as most of the audience had hoped.
Councilmember Jack Evans led off the discussion, framing DC’s $131 million budget shortfall as peanuts compared to our much more troubled neighbor states – Maryland with a $2 billion deficit even with slot money, and a $3 billion hole in Virginia. DC’s budget problems come from two main taxes: the capital gains tax, which will bring in $70 million less than projected (since most people won’t have any capital gains next year) and the deed and recordation tax ($50 million under projection), since real estate sales will slow.
