The District’s outgoing chief financial officer issued his final revenue estimate Friday afternoon and predicted generous increases in revenue. Council members and the mayor have bristled and derided Gandhi for years for low-balling revenue estimates. Now, on his way out, he bestows a bouquet of robust revenues.
In the current fiscal year, Gandhi estimates increased revenues of $190 million. For 2014, his number crunchers see an increase of $177.8 million. Revenues could increase another $178 million in 2015 and keep rising to $199 million in 2016.
“These estimates take into account the likelihood of the sequester being implemented,” Gandhi’s office says.
In his letter to Mayor Vincent Gray and the city council, Gandhi wrote: “Population growth has been a major factor in increasing the District’s income and sales tax bases, and is also a major driving force behind rising home sales.”
Translation: newcomers to the nation’s capital—largely younger residents who work in the city and prefer it to the suburbs—are spending more and buying up homes in eastern neighborhoods such as Shaw, Petworth, Bloomingdale, and Eckington.
Reading deep into Gandhi’s assessment, you will find good and bad news about commercial real estate property taxes, the perennial gold mine for DC revenues. Gandhi notes a “remarkable turnaround” in fiscal year 2012 to a 6.2 percent increase, but he also predicts a slowing in the coming years.
For veteran voyeurs of the conflict between Gandhi and DC’s elected political class, Gandhi’s parting estimate presents an ironic and even delicious final episode: rather than his conservative estimates, which tended to rein in spending, Gandhi offers up extra millions for spendthrift politicians.
But he will be out of office June 1, so he leaves to his successor the job of keeping the politicians within the bounds of his estimates, or facing their wrath if revenues actually fall—which they might.
Gandhi’s Parting Shot: Strong Economic Projections for DC
DC’s CFO retires June 1, but he delivers a host of good news to city politicians before he goes.
Hahaha! Nat Gandhi gets the last laugh.
The District’s outgoing chief financial officer issued his final revenue estimate Friday afternoon and predicted generous increases in revenue. Council members and the mayor have bristled and derided Gandhi for years for low-balling revenue estimates. Now, on his way out, he bestows a bouquet of robust revenues.
In the current fiscal year, Gandhi estimates increased revenues of $190 million. For 2014, his number crunchers see an increase of $177.8 million. Revenues could increase another $178 million in 2015 and keep rising to $199 million in 2016.
“These estimates take into account the likelihood of the sequester being implemented,” Gandhi’s office says.
In his letter to Mayor Vincent Gray and the city council, Gandhi wrote: “Population growth has been a major factor in increasing the District’s income and sales tax bases, and is also a major driving force behind rising home sales.”
Translation: newcomers to the nation’s capital—largely younger residents who work in the city and prefer it to the suburbs—are spending more and buying up homes in eastern neighborhoods such as Shaw, Petworth, Bloomingdale, and Eckington.
Reading deep into Gandhi’s assessment, you will find good and bad news about commercial real estate property taxes, the perennial gold mine for DC revenues. Gandhi notes a “remarkable turnaround” in fiscal year 2012 to a 6.2 percent increase, but he also predicts a slowing in the coming years.
For veteran voyeurs of the conflict between Gandhi and DC’s elected political class, Gandhi’s parting estimate presents an ironic and even delicious final episode: rather than his conservative estimates, which tended to rein in spending, Gandhi offers up extra millions for spendthrift politicians.
But he will be out of office June 1, so he leaves to his successor the job of keeping the politicians within the bounds of his estimates, or facing their wrath if revenues actually fall—which they might.
Most Popular in News & Politics
What It Felt Like for a Virginia Marching Band to Win Metallica’s Contest
What’s IN and OUT in DC Restaurant Trends for 2024
Introducing 8 of DC’s Most Stylish
Best of Washington 2023: Things to Eat, Drink, Do, and Know Right Now
Washingtonian Magazine
May 2024: Great Getaways
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
13 Major Concerts and Music Festivals in the DC Area This Spring
Mary Timony on Her Emotional New Album, “Untame the Tiger”
The Beatles in DC: A New Exhibit in Maryland Looks Back on Early Beatlemania
Northern Virginia High School Wins Metallica’s Marching Band Competition
More from News & Politics
3 New Memoirs by Prominent Women
Everything You Wanted to Know About Urban Bear Sightings but Were Afraid to Ask, Because Who Wants to Get That Close to a Bear?
Rockville Police Are Searching for Culprits of a $4,500 Pickleball Paddle Heist
Dozens of Vintage Planes Will Fly Over the National Mall This Saturday
PHOTOS: “Rupaul’s Drag Race” Queens Work It at the National Mall
Meet the NIH Detectives Cracking Medicine’s Toughest Cases
5 of DC’s Most Interesting Ideas for Revitalizing Chinatown
A “Corpse Flower” Is Currently in Bloom at the Botanic Garden