Archive: City Finances
Alleged Tax Cheat Harriette Walters Speaks: Hear It Here
Seems someone forgot to disconnect an old office number for Harriette Walters, the alleged mastermind of the $50 million D.C. tax office scam. She can still be heard sounding very helpful on a voice message from an old phone extension at the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue: 202.442.6762. Call...
By David A Nakamura | July 8, 2008; 03:40 PM ET | Comments (3)
Congress, City Spar over WASA
Council members Carol Schwartz and Jim Graham are fighting back -- or, at least, talking back -- in the wake of the Senate's move Monday to overturn a District law passed last year that would have increased city control over the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority. As the Post reported...
By David A Nakamura | June 18, 2008; 04:10 PM ET | Comments (1)
Gandhi Fights Back
Yesterday, we told you that Council member David Catania was attacking CFO Natwar Gandhi's reliance on what seemed to be an overly optimistic consultant's report to support bond financing for the Washington Nationals baseball stadium. Well, Gandhi is fighting back with this letter to Catania's office. Catania pointed out that...
By David A Nakamura | May 29, 2008; 09:42 AM ET | Comments (3)
Catania Attacks Baseball Projections
As the loudest critic of public financing for the Washington Nationals' baseball stadium, D.C. Council member David Catania had more recently seemed to mute his objections. With the stadium build and the team playing there, Catania figured he had fought the good fight and it was time to move on...
By David A Nakamura | May 28, 2008; 09:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
In Case You Missed It:
District Council member Mary M. Cheh decided yesterday to table her energy bill after being pelted with questions from council colleagues and heavy lobbying from utility companies such as Pepco. A big sticking point: aid to the poor to help pay utility bills. Also, auditor Deborah K. Nichols issued a...
By Marcia Davis | May 22, 2008; 07:30 AM ET | Email a Comment
Mayor to Withdraw, Then Resubmit Lottery Contract (*Updated)
A day after the D.C. Council tabled a controversial D.C. Lottery contract, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty will withdraw it from consideration later today, administration officials said. The move is aimed at ensuring the deal is not declared dead by tomorrow's deadline for the council to vote on the matter under...
By David A Nakamura | May 14, 2008; 03:18 PM ET | Email a Comment
Business Property Tax Cut is $21 Million
So say D.C. Council members and Barbara Lang, head of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce. The council will vote tomorrow on the fiscal 2009 budget and one of the most contentious issues has been how much tax relief to provide small businesses. In January, the council approved a bill that...
By David A Nakamura | May 12, 2008; 05:32 PM ET | Email a Comment
Business Tax Cut Still Alive
The big question around the Wilson Building these days: Can the District government absorb an 11th-hour, $35 million revenue shortfall and still give small businesses a property tax cut? The answer, after six hours of private D.C. Council discussions yesterday, appears to be a resounding "yes." Council sources said the...
By David A Nakamura | May 8, 2008; 03:17 PM ET | Email a Comment
The Numbers Are In
You can read the full letter from CFO Gandhi to Mayor Fenty and Council Chairman Gray regarding the city's latest $35 million budget gap here....
By David A Nakamura | May 7, 2008; 01:03 PM ET | Email a Comment
New Gandhi Spokesman
Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi has hired a new spokesman to replace Maryann Young, who departed in January to take over as the director of elections for Lackawanna County, Pa. David Umansky, who began this week, has had a long career in public relations. According to his biography, Umansky began...
By David A Nakamura | April 18, 2008; 11:08 AM ET | Email a Comment
Questions Linger on Lottery Contract
D.C. Council members Jim Graham and Marion Barry had kind words for the mayor when the city pulled the proposed lottery contract to W2I. "I'm very pleased," said Graham, the contract's harshest critic. "The public's interest is being served." Barry, who also said he had "serious" problems with the contract,...
By Yolanda Woodlee | April 10, 2008; 05:05 PM ET | Email a Comment
The CAFR: Read All About It
As we've been reporting this week, the city has received its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report from BDO Seidman and the news isn't great. Yes, D.C. scored a "clean" audit, which is critical for its standing on Wall Street. But the auditors, in their "yellow book" addendum, cited the city for...
By David A Nakamura | April 10, 2008; 10:49 AM ET | Email a Comment
The Tax Man and the Coffee Shop
The Office of Tax and Revenue may have its problems holding on to the city's money once it's collected, but officials are serious about getting what it's due from taxpayers on the front end. Yesterday Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi and his tax office director Stephen M. Cordi said...
By Marcia Davis | April 10, 2008; 07:30 AM ET | Comments (2)
Breaking News: Lottery Contract Withdrawn
D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi just testified at a D.C. Council hearing moments ago that he and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) have agreed to withdraw a controversial new lottery contract to a nine-month-old company. Some council members raised questions about the proposal and the firm's principals, including...
By David A Nakamura | April 9, 2008; 11:54 AM ET | Comments (4)
Lottery Bids and Battles
Washington Post reporter Yolanda Woodlee writes about the D.C. Council hearing on the city's lottery contract in today's Post. One thing you quickly see about the two companies at the center of the fight over the lottery contract is that they have similar set ups. Both the current contract holder,...
By Marcia Davis | April 8, 2008; 01:55 PM ET | Email a Comment
A Lot of Lawyers at Lottery Hearing
You know there's a hot issue in the Wilson Building when you see these three: Fred Cooke, Scott Bolden, and a familiar face from the D.C. Council, Kevin Chavous. All three lawyers were at today's hearing before Jack Evans' Committee on Finance and Revenue. The issue: the city's lottery contract....
By Yolanda Woodlee | April 7, 2008; 05:06 PM ET | Email a Comment
Fenty v. Council on Business Tax Relief
Several District Council members, including Chairman Vincent C. Gray, aren't buying Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's tax relief plan for city businesses, a proposal that counter's the council's initiative earlier this year. When the D.C. Council approved a tax relief package for businesses in January, the expectation was that the plan...
By David A Nakamura | April 4, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
Whither the CAFR?
Officials on various floors of the John A. Wilson Building have been waiting on pins and needles for the release, probably next week, of the D.C. government's long-delayed Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. And D.C. Wire has gotten word that City Hall is bracing for a critical review by BDO Seidman,...
By David A Nakamura | April 3, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
