Biography Natwar M. Gandhi Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi is the chief financial officer (CFO) for the District of Columbia and is responsible for the city’s finances, including its approximately $7 billion in annual operating and capital funds. He was appointed to this position on June 7, 2000, and was reappointed by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty in January 2007.   As the independent CFO, Gandhi manages the District’s financial operations, which include more than 1,000 staff members in tax and revenue administration; the treasury, comptroller and budget offices; economic/fiscal analysis and revenue estimation functions; agency financial operations; and the DC Lottery. He works closely with congressional committees and the US Office of Management and Budget staff that oversee District affairs. He also regularly interacts with the Wall Street financial community, including rating agencies, regarding the District’s financial matters.   Gandhi has built on the District’s financial progress by securing multiple rating upgrades (a total of 13 rating steps since FY2000) from the major rating agencies for its general obligation bonds, which are currently rated A+ by Standard and Poor’s and Fitch Ratings and A1 by Moody’s Investors Service.  These are the highest ratings ever assigned to the District of Columbia’s general obligation bonds.  In 2009, Standard & Poor’s assigned a rating of AAA to the District’s inaugural offering of income tax revenue bonds, which were rated AA by Fitch and Aa2 by Moody’s.  Savings on debt service costs from the income tax bonds are estimated to total $28 million between FY2010 and FY2013.   As CFO, Gandhi sits on the boards of the Washington Convention and Sports Authority and Destination DC.   Prior to this appointment, Gandhi served as deputy chief financial officer for tax and revenue, leading an organization that administers the District of Columbia’s tax laws. When Gandhi joined the Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR) in 1997, the agency was in disarray. Its revenue base was shrinking, and employee morale was sinking. Under his leadership, OTR demonstrated a remarkable turnaround. Successes included collecting substantially more in tax revenue than in previous years, turning projected city deficits into huge surpluses; issuing more than 150,000 tax refunds within 15 days during the 1999 and 2000 tax-filing seasons; and establishing a new one-stop, walk-in customer service center to improve public outreach.     Page 1 of 2