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STABILITY THROUGH SCANDAL: A REVIEW OF 

THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

OVERSIGHT OF GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT, 

THE FEDERAL WORKFORCE, AND THE 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SUBCOMMITTEE 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON 

HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

MARCH 31, 2009 

Available via http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/index.html 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security 

and Governmental Affairs 

( 

(II) 

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman 

CARL LEVIN, Michigan 

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas 

MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana 

CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri 

JON TESTER, Montana 

ROLAND W. BURRIS, Illinois 

MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado 

SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine 

TOM COBURN, Oklahoma 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio 

JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada 

LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina 

MICHAEL L. ALEXANDER, Staff Director 

BRANDON L. MILHORN, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

TRINA DRIESSNACK TYRER, Chief Clerk 

OVERSIGHT OF GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT, THE FEDERAL 

WORKFORCE, AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SUBCOMMITTEE 

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii, Chairman 

CARL LEVIN, Michigan 

MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana 

ROLAND W. BURRIS, Illinois 

MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado 

GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio 

LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina 

LISA M. POWELL, Chief Counsel and Acting Staff Director 

CHRISTINE S. KHIM, Counsel 

JENNIFER A. HEMINGWAY, Minority Staff Director 

TARA L. SHAW, Minority Counsel 

THOMAS A. BISHOP, Minority Professional Staff Member 

BENJAMIN B. RHODESIDE, Chief Clerk 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Opening statements: Page 

Senator Akaka .................................................................................................. 1 

Senator Voinovich ............................................................................................. 3 

WITNESSES 

TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2009 

Natwar M. Gandhi, Chief Financial Officer, Office of the Chief Financial 

Officer, District of Columbia ............................................................................... 4 

Charles J. Willoughby, Inspector General, Office of the Inspector General, 

District of Columbia ............................................................................................. 6 

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF WITNESSES

Gandhi, Natwar M.: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 4 

Prepared statement with attachments ........................................................... 25 

Willoughby, Charles J.: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 6 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 43 

APPENDIX 

Background .............................................................................................................. 55 

Letter from Natwar M. Gandhi to Senators Akaka and Voinovich, dated 

Oct. 1, 2009 ........................................................................................................... 65 

Paul Strauss, United States Senator, District of Columbia (Shadow), prepared 

statement .............................................................................................................. 67 

Questions and Responses for the Record from: 

Dr. Gandhi ........................................................................................................ 69 

Mr. Willoughby ................................................................................................. 72 

(1) 

STABILITY THROUGH SCANDAL: 

A REVIEW OF THE OFFICE OF THE 

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER 

TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2009 

U.S. SENATE,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT OF GOVERNMENT

MANAGEMENT, THE FEDERAL WORKFORCE,

AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,

OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY

AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS,

Washington, DC. 

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:03 a.m., in 

room SD–342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Daniel K. 

Akaka, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding. 

Present: Senators Akaka and Voinovich. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR AKAKA 

Senator AKAKA. The Subcommittee on Oversight of Government 

Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia 

will come to order. 

Good morning, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us 

today, as the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia meets 

to examine the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) for the 

District of Columbia. This morning, we will evaluate the current 

state of D.C.’s financial management, the progress it has made 

since its financial crisis in the 1990s, and how D.C. is addressing 

future financial challenges. 

Over the past 14 years, D.C.’s finances have undergone major 

change. In the 1990s, longstanding budget deficits and a general 

lack of accountability resulted in the District’s inability to provide 

adequate public services to its residents. Ultimately, Congress 

stepped in and passed the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Act of 1995. The act established 

a Control Board to oversee D.C. finances, expanded the powers of 

the D.C. Inspector General, and created the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. 

The Senate held a series of oversight hearings shortly after the 

Control Board and OCFO were established to examine the problems leading up to D.C.’s financial collapse and reforms happening 

in other cities facing similar financial and social hardships. Recommendations from these hearings served as a starting point for 

D.C.’s fiscal recovery. 

2 

Thanks largely to reform efforts by the D.C. Mayor’s Office and 

the OCFO, the Control Board was disbanded and the District resumed management of its own finances in 2001. In the years since 

the financial crisis, D.C. has achieved 12 consecutive balanced 

budgets. While many States and cities struggled with budget shortfalls, D.C. posted a budget surplus for fiscal year 2008. 

Despite these accomplishments, the District faces many financial 

hurdles. The OCFO predicts decreases in revenue in the coming fiscal years. The OCFO’s most recent revenue estimate shows a 

$393.5 million decrease for fiscal year 2009, compared with its 

original revenue estimate from June of last year. The struggling 

economy and higher unemployment rates are contributing to D.C.’s 

weak revenue forecast. 

Additionally, D.C. does not have the ability to increase revenues 

as other cities do. Much of the District’s land is Federally owned 

and, therefore, not subject to D.C. taxes. Additionally, because a 

high proportion of people who work in the District do not live here, 

the city’s residents pay for the upkeep of roads, bridges, sidewalks, 

and other infrastructure used by many non-residents who are not 

subject to D.C. income taxes. 

The District also continues to struggle with financial management weaknesses. Due to insufficient internal management controls designed to prevent, detect, and deter fraud, the District repeatedly has suffered the loss of millions of dollars in taxpayer 

money. 

In 2007, two employees from the Office of Tax and Revenue 

(OTR), a division of the OCFO, were arrested for the embezzlement 

of more than $12 million. Investigations revealed a property tax refund scheme, beginning in the 1980s, in which fraudulent refund 

requests were submitted by a Tax and Revenue official and paid 

without detection for decades. At the time, there were no internal 

controls within Tax and Revenue to prevent such fraud. It appears 

that diligence in protecting the taxpayers’ money was not part of 

the office’s culture. 

The scheme was discovered when the OCFO implemented an internal control in 2007 to flag refund checks over a certain dollar 

amount. A Tax and Revenue official tried to issue a fraudulent refund check, a warning went up, and she eventually was caught. 

Had the new internal control not been implemented, it is possible 

the fraud scheme would still be going on today. 

I am also concerned by what appears to be a chronic problem 

with Medicaid management in the District. The D.C. Inspector 

General’s audits of the D.C. Department of Mental Health Programs found that there was no process for revising and resubmitting denied Medicaid claims. Audits also uncovered incomplete documentation for Medicaid claims, causing the District to be denied 

Federal Medicaid reimbursement for services that had been provided. As a result, D.C. residents must bear this financial burden. 

I believe that is unacceptable and must be remedied by the OCFO. 

Before I conclude my statement today, I would like to address an 

incident that took place earlier this month in the Office of the 

Chief Technology Officer (OCTO). An official was arrested for allegedly accepting bribes and engaging in a money-laundering scheme 

by approving fraudulent time sheets for non-existent employees 

3 

and charging the District for software products it never actually received. While I understand the official arrested was not under the 

direct purview of the OCFO, I believe this occurrence highlights 

general problems of accountability in contracting and procurement. 

In 2007, the Government Accountability Office issued a report 

identifying a number of weaknesses in the District’s procurement 

process, including the need for the OCFO to work more closely with 

the Mayor’s Contracting and Procurement Office to bridge the gap 

between the program and finance components of contracting. It is 

my hope that the OCFO, while not directly responsible for the recent scandal in the Chief Technology Office, uses this unfortunate 

event as an opportunity to re-evaluate the environment in which 

contracting occurs and creates internal controls and robust antifraud policies where needed. 

I hope today’s hearing allows us to gain a greater understanding 

of how the OCFO has addressed recent scandals and has worked 

to implement new policies to improve the overall health of the 

agency and District Government. In this difficult financial climate, 

I believe it is important for Congress and District residents to 

know how the OCFO is safeguarding their hard-earned tax dollars. 

I now turn to my friend Senator Voinovich for any opening statement that he would like to make. Senator Voinovich. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR VOINOVICH 

Senator VOINOVICH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank you for 

holding this hearing to discuss both the progress and challenges 

still facing the District of Columbia. 

The District’s progress since the 1990s has been something Senator Akaka and I have followed close while serving on this Subcommittee, and I look forward to learning today from our witnesses 

about their next steps. As Senator Akaka said, a testament to the 

leadership of Dr. Gandhi, the District recently announced its 12th 

consecutive balanced budget amidst national economic hardship 

while continuing to boast an annual surplus. 

I remember when you took over, Dr. Gandhi, we were in real 

trouble, and it reminded me very much of when I took over as 

mayor of the city of Cleveland when our books were inauditable 

and we had a financial supervisor involved. And I think the fact 

that you stayed on board and have worked over the years is something that we all can be thankful for. So often what happens, someone like yourself comes in and then they do their thing and then 

leave. 

And I must say today, Senator Akaka, one of the real joys that 

I have—and there are not too many with the economy the way it 

is—is that the books of the city of Cleveland remain auditable and 

they get good marks because of the fact that we put in place a new 

system and then made sure that we attracted the people that were 

necessary, the professional people to get the job done. And in a lot 

of municipalities around the country, in too many cases, a lot of 

them get jobs because of who they know, and I know, Dr. Gandhi, 

that you hire people on what they know and their experiences so 

that they can give you the team that you need to get the job done. 

I am sure that you are worried about where we are with the 

economy, but, again, you are better off than a lot of other places 

4 

1The prepared statement of Mr. Gandhi with attachments appears in the Appendix on page 

25. 

in the country, because I think that you have been prudent, and 

the mayor has been working with you. 

On the other hand, I think that there have been some recommendations on how you can improve the operation. We will be 

hearing about those from Mr. Willoughby today. I am sure that you 

are interested in those suggestions. And the main issue today, I 

think, is have you been able to attract the folks that you need to 

get the job done? I noticed in your testimony you are talking about 

getting a new person to come in. Are they out there? Can you get 

them? 

So, Mr. Chairman, I am just glad to be here today and feel very 

good that when we got started with this, things did not look like 

they were going to go well. And we had confidence in you. I think 

we have been fortunate also to have Mayor Williams and now our 

new mayor, who seem to be professional people, who are running 

the city based on good public policy and financial management, and 

that helps a great deal, too. 

Senator AKAKA. Well, thank you very much for your statement, 

Senator Voinovich. 

I would now like to welcome today’s witnesses to the Subcommittee: Natwar M. Gandhi, who currently is the Chief Financial Officer for the District of Columbia; and Charles Willoughby, 

who currently is the Inspector General for the District of Columbia. 

As you know, it is the custom of this Subcommittee to swear in 

all witnesses. I would ask you to stand and raise your right hand. 

Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give 

the Subcommittee is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 

the truth, so help you, God? 

Mr. GANDHI. I do. 

Mr. WILLOUGHBY. I do. 

Senator AKAKA. Thank you. Let the record show that our witnesses answered in the affirmative. 

I want the witnesses to know that while your oral statements are 

limited to 5 minutes, your entire statements will be included in the 

record. 

Dr. Gandhi, will you please proceed with your statement? 

TESTIMONY OF NATWAR M. GANDHI,1 CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, DISTRICT 

OF COLUMBIA 

Mr. GANDHI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Senator 

Voinovich, and Members of the Subcommittee, I am Natwar M. 

Gandhi, Chief Financial Officer for the District of Columbia. I am 

here to offer remarks about our progress in financial management 

generally and since the tax scandal broke in November 2007. 

Mr. Chairman, in 1995, as you pointed out, the Congress created 

the Office of the Independent Chief Financial Officer to work with 

the mayor and the council. Since then, we have completed 12 consecutive balanced budgets, with two more in the pipeline, and 

turned a cumulative $550 million deficit into an impressive $1.2 

billion fund balance. Further, we transformed a nearly bankrupt 

5 

1The chart referred to appears in the Appendix on page 38. 

2The chart referred to appears in the Appendix on page 39. 

3The chart referred to appears in the Appendix on page 40. 

District Government plagued with junk bond ratings into a financially credible jurisdiction with strong ratings. Attachment 1 to my 

testimony and the display board right here in the testimony room 

tell the story of the District’s successful return to fiscal solvency 

and financial stability.1

This turnaround is a case study in a commitment to improve financial management and practices. Our general obligation bond 

ratings have improved at an unprecedented speed. They now stand 

at A plus and A1 level from all three rating agencies simultaneously. In addition, we recently received a triple A rating from 

Standard & Poor’s and double A ratings from Moody’s and Fitch on 

our inaugural issuance of the income tax revenue bonds. These ratings will lower our borrowing cost by an estimated $28 million over 

the next 4 years. 

Another significant area of financial improvement has been in 

the management of our debt burden. In June 2007, I recommended 

to the mayor and the council a hard cap of 12 percent in the ratio 

of total debt service to total expenditures. It is now the law. Attachment 2 to my testimony shows the District’s debt burden since 

1992.2

Now I will turn to the improvements we have made since the tax 

fraud. This criminal enterprise was able to thrive over 20 years because of a failure of managerial oversight and internal controls. Immediately following the discovery of the fraud, we strengthened 

both the automated and manual controls over the refund process, 

replaced the tax office management, and removed numerous employees who benefited from the fraud and failed to report suspicious activities. In addition, we established an independent Audit 

Committee composed of distinguished professionals and chaired by 

former IRS Commissioner Sheldon Cohen to provide financial advice and review the financial management and internal controls of 

our office. We also hired Stephen Cordi, a distinguished tax administrator, as our tax commissioner. Mr. Cordi and his new management staff have made significant progress in instituting changes at 

the tax office. Each year, the Inspector General retains an external 

accounting firm to audit the District’s financial statements and internal controls. The auditing firm of BDO Seidman gave us a clean 

audit opinion on our Comprehensive Annual Financial Report 

(CAFR), for fiscal year 2007 and 2008. However, they found the 

manual tax refund process to be a material weakness in fiscal year 

2007. We worked hard to improve our controls in the refund process and other areas. As a consequence, in the just-released CAFR 

for fiscal year 2008, the auditors reduced the severity of their finding. Attachment 3 to my testimony shows the history of the auditors’ detailed analysis of our internal controls.3 I want to assure 

you that we have been working hard to reduce these and other 

areas of weakness in our controls. 

Now I shall turn to our revenue situation, and I want to assure 

you that we are gathering the requirements for the procurement of 

both a new integrated tax system and a real property tax system 

as we strengthen our revenues. 

6 

1The prepared statement of Mr. Willoughby appears in the Appendix on page 57. 

In terms of our revenues, the economic outlook of the District of 

Columbia has changed dramatically from that of a year ago. The 

current forecast assumes that the economic condition will continue 

to deteriorate as employment and wages edge downward, commercial property transfers slow further, and construction projects are 

delayed. Even with this grim outlook, we are managing our fiscal 

affairs well. 

On the plus side, we are fortunate to be a center for these growth 

areas: Government, education, and health. And even though our 

revenues are shrinking, the diversity of our tax base will help us 

to pull through these times in better shape than many other States 

and localities. 

On the negative side, a significant portion of our population is 

not well educated or trained to fill jobs in the growing employment 

areas. The services that they will need, and that we must provide, 

will continue to tax our resources at increasing levels. 

In summary, Mr. Chairman, the District has accomplished 

much—some might even say miracles—in the last decade. Its fiscal 

condition is sound. Our mayor and the council, the entire elected 

leadership, possess a steadfast commitment to fiscal responsibility 

that has become widely recognized. 

This concludes my oral remarks, and I request that my written 

testimony be made part of the record, and I will be delighted to answer any questions you may have. Thank you, sir. 

Senator AKAKA. Thank you very much, Dr. Gandhi. 

Mr. Willoughby, will you please proceed with your statement? 

TESTIMONY OF CHARLES J. WILLOUGHBY,1 INSPECTOR GENERAL, OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL, DISTRICT OF 

COLUMBIA 

Mr. WILLOUGHBY. Yes, Mr. Chairman. Good morning, Chairman 

Akaka, Senator Voinovich, and Members of the Subcommittee. I 

am Charles J. Willoughby, Inspector General for the District of Columbia, and I am pleased to speak before you this morning at your 

hearing entitled ‘‘Stability Through Scandal: A Review of the Office 

of the Chief Financial Officer,’’ also referred to as OCFO. 

You asked me to address specifically: First, the independent 

auditor’s report relative to material weaknesses identified in the 

Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR); second, to address progress that the Chief Financial Officer has made in responding to recommendations from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG); third, to address cooperation between the OIG and the 

OCFO to achieve efficiency and improve accountability; and, fourth, 

ways that the OCFO can improve its financial management. 

William J. DiVello, the D.C. Assistant Inspector General for 

Audit, is accompanying me today. With your permission, a longer 

version of my opening statement has been submitted for the record. 

By law, the Inspector General must enter into a contract with an 

independent auditing firm to audit the city’s financial statements. 

On January 30, 2009, the District of Columbia received an unqualified opinion on its financial statements for fiscal year 2008 from its 

independent auditors, BDO Seidman. It is noteworthy to mention 

7 

that this is the 12th consecutive year in which the District received 

a clean opinion on its financial statements from independent auditors. While an unqualified opinion provides that the financial statements were presented fairly in all material aspects, the independent auditors also issued a report on internal control and compliance over financial reporting, commonly referred to as the ‘‘Yellow Book’’ Report. The Yellow Book Report noted a continuing need 

to address significant internal control deficiencies and material 

weaknesses. 

The fiscal year 2008 Yellow Book Report cited two material 

weaknesses: The first was the Office of the Chief Financial Officer’s 

treasury functions; and the second, was the management of the 

Medicaid program. The treasury functions contributing to the material weakness involved the failure to reconcile cash and investment account activities. The Office of the Chief Financial Officer 

generally responded positively to these findings, providing detailed 

actions to reconcile all accounts on a monthly basis. 

The second material weakness involved management of the Medicaid program, which has been a longstanding problem for the District, having been reported as a reportable condition in prior CAFR 

years and a material weakness for fiscal years 2007 and 2008. Recognizing that many of the city’s Medicaid’s problems reside in the 

billing and accountability areas, the District recently created the 

Department of Health Care Finance to better manage the Medicaid 

program. 

In the fiscal year 2007 CAFR Yellow Book Report, the independent auditors cited conditions at the District’s Office of Tax and 

Revenue (OTR), as a material weakness that contributed to a $50 

million fraud perpetrated by an OTR manager working collusively 

with several other individuals. Given the severity of the fraud, the 

District’s City Council established a Tax and Revenue Investigation 

Special Committee to review the OTR fraud. 

The special committee retained Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale 

and Dorr, LLP, to examine the facts and circumstances surrounding the fraud scheme and to make recommendations to prevent a recurrence. Approximately 38 recommendations were directed to the OCFO that addressed the failure of internal controls, 

a culture of apathy and silence, which was pervasive among many 

OTR employees, and the lack of effective oversight. 

In the past several years, the OIG has issued numerous reports 

that addressed improvements in various OCFO areas. One important report was a Management Implication Report (MIR), that we 

issued in October 2007 concerning systemic internal control deficiencies. These deficiencies addressed such issues as ineffective 

policies and procedures, ineffective controls to prevent or detect 

fraud, lack of documentation, and ineffective management oversight. In another MIR issued in January 2009, the OIG focused on 

internal control weaknesses in the District’s payment process. 

Overall, the findings and recommendations the OIG has directed to 

the OCFO have been met with approval, acceptance, and implementation of corrective actions. 

Because the OCFO plays an essential role in maintaining the integrity of the city’s finances and serving as the primary accountant 

for all fiscal matters on a local budget of about $8 billion, we have 

8 

engaged the OCFO on several levels to improve interagency cooperation and oversight efforts. For example, while not a voting 

member of the CAFR committee chaired by the OIG, the OCFO enjoys a tenured role as an active participant in regularly scheduled 

CAFR meetings. CAFR committee meetings serve an extremely important function in getting management of District agencies and 

independent components, along with the OCFO, to cooperate and 

coordinate efforts to permit timely completion of the independent 

auditors’ financial statement audit. 

While the OCFO has taken many corrective actions relative to its 

operations, we believe there are several areas where additional 

management actions should be taken to improve its operations: 

First, given the impact that sound internal control has on accountability, effective, and efficient government operations, the 

OCFO should issue a citywide directive requiring managers to establish, assess, correct, and report on internal controls. 

Next, regarding the payment process, the OCFO needs to assign 

accounts payable officials more accountability by developing written policies and procedures that require due diligence prior to the 

payment of invoices. For example, steps must be taken to ensure 

that the payment of contractors’ invoices is made only pursuant to 

the approval of authorized agency personnel. 

Next, recent frauds perpetrated against the District disclosed a 

need for an intensified anti-fraud program. By intensifying its antifraud preventive and detective controls, the OCFO can better create a culture of ethical behavior in the workplace. 

Next, recruiting and retaining qualified personnel, and then 

properly supervising its staff, to include management review of 

transactions and processes, and timely and accurate employee evaluations. 

In summary, my office will continue to provide an independent 

assessment of the OCFO to help maintain the highest standards of 

conduct, integrity, efficient, and effective government operations. 

Mr. Chairman, my staff and I will be happy to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you. 

Senator AKAKA. Thank you very much, Mr. Willoughby. 

Dr. Gandhi, as you may know, before coming to Congress I was 

an educator and a principal in the Hawai’i public school system. I 

was troubled by the D.C. Inspector General’s report that identified 

payroll and financial monitoring problems within the D.C. public 

school (DCPS) system. I understand your office responded by assembling a task force to focus on deficiencies within DCPS. I have 

a two-part question for you. 

Please elaborate on the changes you have made to address problems with DCPS finances. And to others, how do these changes correspond with the mayor’s education reform initiatives? 

Mr. GANDHI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Those are important 

issues for us as we deliberate on the mayor’s major initiative on 

school reform. School finances have been an issue for several years, 

if not a decade or more. In our so-called Yellow Book, schools have 

appeared most of the time, and we have been plagued in the 

schools with antiquated payroll and managerial systems. What we 

have done at the schools, first, is to make sure that our Chief Financial Officer there remains very aggressive in terms of exercising 

9 

internal controls; second, installed a new payroll system; and third, 

we have installed all the relevant financial management techniques 

and procedures immediately going forward. 

We work very closely with the chancellor and the deputy mayor 

in charge of education to collaborate and enhance the mayor’s effort 

to improve the education of our children. So, we are equal partners 

in the mayor’s effort to improve our school system. 

Senator AKAKA. Dr. Gandhi, as you know, a report for the Tax 

and Revenue Investigation Special Committee concluded that the 

tax refund scheme was not identified sooner in part because of a 

pervasive culture of apathy and silence. As you know, Ranking 

Member Voinovich and I believe human capital investments like 

strategic planning, supervisor training, and mentorship programs 

can have far-reaching positive effects on morale and performance. 

Please describe the investment your agency has made in strategic planning, supervisor training, and other efforts to bring about 

a culture of transparency and accountability. I am particularly interested in the details of the integrity and accountability training 

mentioned in your testimony. 

Mr. GANDHI. Yes, sir. The lessons that I have learned, that we 

have all learned, from the tax scandals are the following: 

One, the cliche about eternal vigilance is extremely important 

and quite relevant as we manage the complex finances of the District. 

Two, establishing internal controls is simply not enough. Of 

course, you have to have effective internal controls, but what you 

really need is to make sure that you keep testing them, and make 

sure that people are following those controls effectively. 

Three, you pointed out, sir, is the importance of creating a climate of accountability and ethical behavior. That is the heart of 

the matter. 

As this scandal went on for more than 20 years, it was not detected, nor was it reported even by the people who were there for 

all those 20 years receiving money, and the managers had no clue. 

What we have done is: One, reinstitute strong internal controls; 

two, when I became the head of the Office of Tax and Revenue in 

1997, every employee had to take a course in ethics, ethical behavior, and our Code of Conduct; three, we started the background investigation of all of our employees, new employees; and then have 

that investigation and training recur on a regular interval. 

But more important than anything else, I think, is the example 

that we need to set at the managerial level, at the highest level. 

One reason why on the day the scandal broke, I simply removed 

12 managers right from top to bottom, who were responsible in 

terms of providing managerial oversight and had profoundly failed. 

We basically took them out of the office. Roughly 40 people have 

left the office because of the scandal. 

We have zero tolerance because of the remarkable financial recovery that we brag about all the time in the District. We went 

from a $500 million deficit to $1.2 billion of fund balance from junk 

bonds to triple A ratings, but it will be for nothing if we do not instill the sense of ethics, sense of accountability within our midst. 

So this is a paramount issue for all of us in the District, and particularly in the area of the Chief Financial Officer’s operations. 

10 

1The chart referred to appears in the Appendix on page 38. 

Senator AKAKA. Well, thank you very much. It is good to hear 

what you have done and are still trying to do. 

Let me now call on Senator Voinovich for his questions. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I have looked at this chart that you have prepared,1 and it is 

very impressive. But when you are talking about a $1.2 billion— 

what is it? Is that a surplus? 

Mr. GANDHI. That is a savings account. That is the accumulated 

surpluses over the years. That is where—if you look at the household, that is our savings account. 

Senator VOINOVICH. So that is money that is available in the 

event that you are not able to meet your revenue estimates to run 

the city? You would tap that in order to make sure that you balanced your budget? 

Mr. GANDHI. Part of it. What has happened here is—— 

Senator VOINOVICH. It would be like in the State government we 

would call it our ‘‘rainy-day fund?’’ 

Mr. GANDHI. Exactly right. That is the rainy-day fund. But I 

want to be careful here. Strictly, of that $1.2 billion, about $330 

million is what you would call, as you pointed out, the rainy-day 

fund comprised in our case of emergency and contingency cash reserves, which is about 6 percent of our budget. Congress requires 

that we put in that rainy-day fund 6 percent of our budget. In addition to that, our escrow fund, other reserves, when you add it all 

up, it is $1.2 billion. 

Now, in terms of making sure that we balance our budget, so far 

we have been able to do that from our regular operating revenues. 

Senator VOINOVICH. OK, but I want to get a better idea of this. 

By the way, this increased rating by rating agencies, that is impressive because they really look at you, and I think that is something that you should be very proud of—although you have a 12- 

percent cap on borrowing? 

Mr. GANDHI. Yes, sir, 12 percent. 

Senator VOINOVICH. In the State government and city, we were 

at 5 percent. Is that a traditional number of 12 percent? Isn’t that 

quite a large number? 

Mr. GANDHI. Well, under the Control Board, we used to have a 

17-percent cap. But when we checked with the financial markets, 

our financial advisers, Moody’s basically said that of the large cities, it is around 11.5 percent. 

Senator VOINOVICH. So it is about average. 

Mr. GANDHI. It is about average. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Across the board. 

Mr. GANDHI. Yes, of the large cities. 

Senator VOINOVICH. And that basically is for the public’s understanding, that is the portion of the budget that is being used to amortize the bonds that the city has issued over the years in order 

to do the capital improvement and other things that you need to 

do. 

Mr. GANDHI. Exactly right. Or, to put it another way, 88 cents 

of every dollar is available to provide services to our citizens and 

11 

12 cents of every dollar is, as you pointed out, to take care of our 

debt service. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Do you have a provision where you restrict 

the amount of money that can be used for payroll and so forth? In 

other words, what we had, when we passed the increase in income 

tax, we restricted a certain amount of money to amortize debt and 

to pay debt. Or is that just something that there is nothing in the 

past law that says you have to restrict X number of the dollars to 

take care of that. 

Mr. GANDHI. Well, what is required of us is that we provide a 

balanced budget; that is, at no time will we spend more money 

than we take in and that we would balance this over a 5-year period, not just 1 year. We provide to you a 5-year plan. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Yes, I see that. Now, tell me, what are the 

numbers again? Here it says that you have the revenue estimate 

was back in—— 

Mr. GANDHI. June. 

Senator VOINOVICH. June, yes, And you are down 7.1 percent. 

Mr. GANDHI. Right. 

Senator VOINOVICH. In other words, you have a nut to crack here 

because of the economy. How much of it is that? And how do you 

intend to take care of that? 

Mr. GANDHI. Right. So just to recap the numbers that you point- ed out, in 2009 we would lose approximately $400 million from 

what we had estimated. In 2010, that would be about $800 million, 

and in 2011, around $1 billion. So the way we are trying to manage 

this, first above all, is that we would cut our expenditures. That 

revenue estimating is done by the independent Chief Financial Officer. We provide to the mayor what the revenue estimates are. We 

cost out for the mayor what the budget items, budget projects, and 

budget programs are going to cost, and then we assure the Congress that when we come before you, we will have a balanced budget. 

Senator VOINOVICH. OK. So those are the recommendations that 

you are going to make to the mayor. He has got between now 

and—you are on a budget that begins July 1? 

Mr. GANDHI. No. October 1. We are on a fiscal year. 

Senator VOINOVICH. You are on the Federal schedule. You have 

between now and October 1 to figure out ways that they can deal 

with this $400 million. 

Mr. GANDHI. Actually, $800 million, because we are now talking 

about the 2010 budget. The 2009 budget is already taken care of. 

We already cut about $400 million off our revenue. 

Senator VOINOVICH. OK. So that is taken care of, and you are 

looking now at 2010. 

Mr. GANDHI. Yes, sir. So the mayor has already submitted a balanced budget to the council earlier last week. Now the council will 

work at it, and in June, we will come back to the Congress and 

give our 2010 balanced budget. 

Senator VOINOVICH. OK. But the question I have is if you have 

taken care of the problem for 2009—— 

Mr. GANDHI. Right. 

Senator VOINOVICH [continuing]. He has made some changes. 

Mr. GANDHI. Yes, sir. 

12 

Senator VOINOVICH. The issue becomes will those changes that he made be continual changes that would impact on the $800 million so that rather than having $800 million to deal with, he is 

going to have to find another $400 million? 

Mr. GANDHI. Absolutely right. I think that is the whole issue of 

providing a 5-year plan; that is to say, we cannot have a recurring 

expenditure without a recurring source of revenue. So what the 

mayor has done in 2010, actually, for the first time in a long time, 

we have submitted a budget which is lower than the previous year. 

Indeed, what the mayor has done—and I greatly commend the 

mayor for that—is that he has simply bent the curve. In the past, 

we have had budget increases that are 6, 7, 8, 10 percent every 

year. We had revenues like that, too. 

Senator VOINOVICH. So the point is that you are going to try to 

take that within the operation of the city, and you are not going 

to touch the rainy-day fund, you are going to try not to do that. 

Mr. GANDHI. Absolutely right, 

Senator VOINOVICH. If you have an emergency, you probably 

might have to do it. 

Mr. GANDHI. The Congress has put very strict conditions on this. 

In other words, for us to be able to touch the rainy-day fund, emergency fund, we need to have a real emergency, a FEMA-type emergency—floods, earthquakes, stuff of that sort. And the decline in 

revenue also has to be far more substantial than what you see 

here. So by any measure, that fund is untouchable. 

Senator VOINOVICH. So the point is that for 2010 you are estimating a flat budget—— 

Mr. GANDHI. Actually, a lower budget. 

Senator VOINOVICH. A lower budget than you had, so that the 

council and the mayor are going to have to make some significant 

additional changes. 

Mr. GANDHI. The mayor has already done that for 2010, and the 

council is deliberating it now. 

Senator VOINOVICH. So they have that before them right now, 

and they are trying to figure out how they can do it. If they are 

able to do that, then you take care of the additional $400 million 

for 2010. 

Mr. GANDHI. And I am confident that we will do it. Indeed, we 

will never send a budget to you, sir, which is not balanced. 

Senator VOINOVICH. All right. And, of course, you have had to estimate what you think the revenues are going to be for the District. 

Mr. GANDHI. Absolutely. The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) has 

the exclusive right to estimate the revenues. So we cannot have a 

so-called rosy scenario doing the revenue estimate. 

Senator VOINOVICH. OK. I have gone over my time. Senator 

Akaka, thank you. 

Mr. GANDHI. May I take just a comment to compliment Senator 

Voinovich here. We learned the lessons from Cleveland. We learned 

what you did. The fiscal prudence and fiscal discipline that you, sir, 

provided when you were the mayor was a guide to us. And Tony 

Williams used to mention that to us. So we are very grateful to you 

for that. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Thank you. 

Senator AKAKA. Thank you for that comment, Dr. Gandhi. 

13 

Dr. Gandhi, I understand that your office has recovered nearly 

$1 million lost in the tax refund scheme and has filed for restitution for almost $4 million in real and personal property. I am encouraged by your efforts to recover these funds. 

I would like to know what other steps the office is taking to get 

back the lost taxpayer money? 

Mr. GANDHI. Our Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against 

Bank of America for $105 million, including the original tax loss 

plus the penalties and other damages that we have suffered. And 

we will vigorously pursue that. And I think, as I pointed out earlier, we want to remain totally vigilant whenever the taxpayer dollars are involved. 

Senator AKAKA. Dr. Gandhi, I mentioned in my statement the 

issue of Medicaid management concerns, and they concern me especially. The District loses millions of dollars every year because the 

Federal Government denies incomplete Medicaid claims from the 

District. 

Will you please describe the steps your office is taking to remedy 

chronic Medicaid reimbursement problems? 

Mr. GANDHI. Thank you, sir. The very first step I do take, and 

have been taking over the last 10 years, every time I meet a new 

city administrator in the city, I tell him that the three things you 

must do immediately is Medicaid, Medicaid, and Medicaid, because 

that is where 20 percent of the budget is. Over the last 10 years, 

we have lost close to $343 million, and that we cannot afford to do. 

Second, our fundamental problem here is that the Medicaid effort 

has somewhat disintegrated into three provider agencies: The Department of Mental Health, Child and Family Services; the Department of Human Services; and the school system. And each one of 

them was trying its own way of reclaiming the money. 

Third, the social workers in Child and Family Services, which is 

where the major problem is, their primary concern is to provide 

services to needy children. A Medicaid claim is the last thing on 

their mind. 

We have been urging the council and the mayor to consolidate 

that effort. Fortunately, what we have now under Mayor Fenty is 

a new Department of Health Care Finance. All of our Medicaid efforts are concentrated now under one roof. I am quite encouraged 

by the leadership of that new department. Indeed, we just met last 

week with them to see what progress they have made, and the contention here is that they would follow aggressively to document the 

services that are being provided and make sure that we claim 

every dollar that should be coming to the District. 

Senator AKAKA. Mr. Willoughby, I understand that the D.C. Inspector General conducts year-round audits of the District’s Medicaid system. Medicaid management continues to be a consistent 

problem. Do you believe there are still billing and accountability 

flaws that are not being addressed? Or do the reforms made just 

need time to take root? 

Mr. WILLOUGHBY. I think based on our recent audits, I think 

that there are still problems in the Medicaid area, and to that extent, we continue to audit Medicaid continuously. Within my office, 

we have set up a particular—we have assigned a unit or a compoVerDate Nov 24 2008 13:43 Apr 08, 2010 Jkt 050385 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 P:\DOCS\50385.TXT SAFFAIRS PsN: PAT
14 

nent within the Audit Division that is broken down or assigned by 

risk areas, of which Medicaid is one of those risk areas. 

So I guess the answer is, yes, I believe there still are problems. 

My office continues to try to explore ways—my office cannot make 

management take certain actions, but I think my office can help 

management to focus on those areas where we believe there are 

weaknesses, of which Medicaid is clearly one. And so what we have 

done, not only do we do the audits, we do follow-up audits; once 

we issue a report or a finding of some sort, we then will go back 

informally and find out what the agency or division is doing with 

respect to addressing the problems that we cited. I can say that we 

have worked closely with the CFO’s office in that regard. 

I would like to say that I do not want my office to be viewed as 

what I call a ‘‘gotcha’’ office. I believe we are all working for the 

same thing—an efficient and effective Government. Medicaid is a 

serious problem. Within the confines of the role of an Inspector 

General, I want to utilize the resources and the auspices of my office as much as possible without going over that line of performing 

management’s job of assisting management in correcting what we 

see as a serious deficiency. 

Senator AKAKA. Thank you. 

Dr. Gandhi, I am pleased with the working relationship that is 

mentioned here between your office and also with the Government 

Accountability Office (GAO) to ensure responsible management of 

the economic recovery funds the District received. Please tell us 

more about the District’s plans for managing recovery funds and 

the support that GAO is providing. 

Mr. GANDHI. Thank you, sir. We work very closely with the Office of the Inspector General and also with the District’s auditor regarding GAO. Sir, I spent 20 years at the GAO before I came to 

the District, so I am thoroughly familiar with the way GAO does 

its work. 

Just last week, we had a meeting with the GAO people. As you 

know, what GAO is trying to do is to closely examine the spending 

of the stimulus money, roughly two-thirds of the money, in 16 

States and the District of Columbia. So we are going to work very 

closely with GAO, but in addition, I have a task force in my own 

office which coordinates with the mayor’s office the effort that we 

are making to spend the stimulus package, which is around $400 

million in terms of the fiscal relief, and I would say $500 million 

or so for Metro, Water and Sewer Authority (WASA), and other 

capital projects. 

We will provide all this information as to how the money is being 

spent on our website, working with GAO and with the Inspector 

General’s office. So we are on the case. 

Senator AKAKA. Thank you for your response. 

Senator Voinovich, do you have further questions? 

Senator VOINOVICH. Yes. This is fun. [Laughter.] 

Fun because it just puts me back to where I was a few years ago. 

How much of a match do you get from the Federal Government 

on Medicaid? 

Mr. GANDHI. We got 70–30. Basically, for every $100 locally 

spent, we are entitled to get $70 back. 

15 

Senator VOINOVICH. That is a very generous contribution from 

the Federal Government compared to lots of other places. I know 

in Ohio it is 60–40. What is it in Hawaii, do you know? 

Well, the point is you have to raise the local 30 percent. 

Mr. GANDHI. Right. But, sir, if I may point out, we are a city. 

We are not a State. So we would wish that we would have a State 

that would take care of responsibilities, but we are not complaining. 

Senator VOINOVICH. I understand that. You are like the county 

welfare department. So the real issue here is to try and do a better 

job of getting control of your Medicaid costs, and you are talking 

about the reorganization, and, Mr. Willoughby, you are looking at 

it. Is the determination about how that welfare agency or Medicaid 

administrator in the hands of the mayor and city council—it is not 

in your hands, is it? 

Mr. GANDHI. No, sir. 

Senator VOINOVICH. You can make recommendations to them 

about how to get it done, but they, in fact, are the ones that have 

to put the plan in place. And you are saying that a lot of people 

that are more interested, let’s get the money on the street, not are 

so much worried about whether we are working harder and smarter and doing more with less. 

Has the District, to your knowledge, looked at any place around 

the country to see if there are best practices about how do you go 

about—because I can tell you this: Medicaid is the Pac-Man of any 

budget? 

Mr. GANDHI. Absolutely. 

Senator VOINOVICH. At the State level, it just sucks up money, 

and then you would have less money for education, higher education, secondary, primary, and the rest of it. Do you know that? 

Have they looked at any—I know the mayor has done this, but is 

there a model that he has looked at that would serve as a best 

practice? 

Mr. GANDHI. Exactly right, and on that issue, you are absolutely 

right about it being Pac-Man. In our case, as I said, it is 20 percent 

of the budget. About a quarter of our residents are Medicaid eligible, and it costs about $7,000 per Medicaid recipient as opposed to, 

say, about $5,000 in Maryland or Virginia. Because we are a city, 

it costs more. So we are very much aware of the problem that we 

face in Medicaid. 

What we are currently doing, working with consultants and others, is to see what is going on in other States and how can we 

make sure that, one, we are effective in providing services and, 

two, claiming from the Feds what should be coming to the city. Our 

new city manager, who is in charge of this, he is very much on the 

case on that, sir. 

Mr. WILLOUGHBY. Mr. Chairman. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Yes, Mr. Willoughby. 

Mr. WILLOUGHBY. I may have some information. I understand 

that the city looked at best practices when it established that 

Health Care Finance entity, and that my office is currently looking 

at best practices with regard to that matter. 

The other thing I would point out is that within the Office of the 

Inspector General, there is a Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and one 

16 

of the few to have that kind of unit within the Inspector General’s 

office. We work closely with the Health Care Finance entity. Individuals within that unit prosecute providers for improperly—I 

guess fraud within the Medicaid program as well as prosecution of 

individuals who are mistreated in Medicaid-funded facilities. 

One of our priorities is to try to recoup as much money as possible through that vehicle. We work closely with this—something 

called the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units. 

My office is very active in that. So one of the things we are trying 

to do is to recoup money through the Medicaid program, through 

prosecution and others joining in joint settlements and that sort of 

thing. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Good. That is very good. 

I want to comment, Dr. Gandhi, about the fact that these people, 

the management people, were let go. Good for you. Most places, the 

person that gets involved is penalized, and then you do not go up 

the chain of command and hold people responsible. I think that is 

really important because it sends a message out from the top all 

the way down that you better pay attention and not be on watch. 

That is great. 

You are getting stimulus money, and I have asked Tom Bishop, 

our staff member, to give me a printout of it. Do you have the capacity now—I mean, is the amount of money coming in, to the extent that you have to hire more people in order to properly watch 

over how it is being spent, or are you able to do it with the people 

that you now have? 

Mr. GANDHI. I think in our case, we have enough people to basically monitor how the money is going to be spent, but we are working very closely with GAO; and if it were to be determined that we 

would need more people, I will not hesitate to go to the mayor and 

the council and say, look, I need five more people to make sure that 

money is spent well. 

But right now, we are OK. We have already pointed out where 

the money is coming from, how much it is, and we have been working with people at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), 

GAO, and in the city administrator’s office, giving them our analysis of the Medicaid stimulus package that we will get. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Well, I hope if you need them you get them, 

so that GAO does not come back to us—because I am watching 

those reports on the 16 States. Ohio is one of them that they are 

watching. You better anticipate it rather than have them come 

back and say they do not have enough people to get the job done. 

Mr. GANDHI. Right. 

Senator VOINOVICH. But that is something you can decide. 

Mr. Willoughby, you made 38 recommendations, and the question 

I have is: How responsive has Dr. Gandhi been to those recommendations that you have made? Have any of them been completed? Have you a priority list of what are the most important recommendations of the 38? How are we doing there? 

Mr. WILLOUGHBY. Well, from what I understand, there has been 

progress, there is progress made with regard to putting in place 

some of the internal controls. There are still areas that need to be 

addressed. I do know this: We are currently—the council has asked 

us to review the recommendations made by the special committee, 

17 

and we are in the process of assessing what of those recommendations—how they have been handled by the CFO’s office, I guess. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Mr. Chairman, would it be appropriate for 

use to ask for a report in 6 months about how these recommendations have been made so that we can monitor that? 

Senator AKAKA. I think it would be appropriate, yes. We would 

like to keep—— 

Mr. WILLOUGHBY. We will be glad to do that. 

Senator VOINOVICH. If you could do that, I would appreciate it. 

Mr. GANDHI. May I make a comment on that, sir? Our policy on 

casework reports that we get from the Inspector General and also 

from the city auditor is to immediately make sure that we sit down 

and understand the recommendations and start implementing 

them as soon as we can. 

Second, the so-called Wilmer Hale report that was issued by the 

council in the wake of our tax fraud, we have immediately followed 

all the recommendations, and we are nearly complete with the implementation of those recommendations as well. 

The idea here is not to argue with them on semantics and say, 

look, we have been doing this. As the IG can testify, we work very 

closely with them not only on this, but also our so-called annual 

report that is under the IG’s purview. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Thank you. 

Senator AKAKA. Thank you very much. 

Mr. Willoughby, as you know, internal control weaknesses have 

led to mismanagement of D.C. funds, in your testimony, you recommend that the OCFO issue a citywide directive requiring the assessment and monitoring of internal controls. 

How would you propose the OCFO formulate appropriate performance measures to assess and monitor internal controls? 

Mr. WILLOUGHBY. I guess I am always, as an Inspector General, 

reluctant to perform the role of management. But I think one basic 

thing—and I think the CFO has referred to this—I believe at the 

core of many of the problems that exist there is a lack of sufficient 

oversight and supervision. And I think it is important that you 

have—I would like to say you have levels of supervision, and I 

think it is important that the supervisors exert their supervisory 

and oversight authority. They have to personally monitor. I have 

said this before: I believe that you can restructure and reorganize, 

as I like to say, until the cows come home. But at the end of the 

day, you still have to have someone who is supposed to be doing 

what they are supposed to be doing, whatever that task or function 

is. And then you have to have someone who is going to be holding 

them accountable. So supervisors have to inspect and review the 

work that is being done. 

I know with the OTR matter, for example, what was there, it 

was clear there was a lack of supervision and oversight. There was 

a lack of systems or methods in place to detect fraud. If you look 

at the WilmerHale report, one thing that jumps out at you, it 

talked about bogus or phony documentation being used to substantiate refunds. Well, if you had appropriate supervision and oversight, then someone should have caught that along the way. 

I just do not want to wait until after a matter or a problem has 

been discovered. I try to do preventive things, and that is where 

18 

the MIR from October 2007—we did a compilation of reports of audits that had been done between, I think, 2004 to 2007. We cited 

specific areas: Lack of mechanisms in place to detect fraud, lack of 

sufficient oversight, lack of appropriate policies and procedures. 

And we cited agencies of which the CFO’s office, OCTO, and the 

Contract Procurement Office were also cited. Those are things to 

try to help. A MIR is an instrument by which we try to put agency 

directors and heads on notice that these are problem areas that 

may have city-wide ramifications. 

And so I guess that is how, I mean, what you need to do at the 

end of the day is you have to make sure people are held accountable. But it does not necessarily just mean disciplining them, it is 

making sure that they do what they are supposed to do. I, for one, 

believe that most of the city employees in the District of Columbia 

are good, honest, hard-working individuals, and I think it is incumbent upon those of us in oversight and supervisory capacities to ensure by monitoring—and I mean getting down sometimes in the 

weeds or laboring in the vineyards sometimes, as I like to say—to 

make sure that work is done because at the end of the day that 

is what is going to determine whether or not there is improper or 

proper activity taking place. 

Senator AKAKA. Dr. Gandhi, I would like to hear your views on 

that recommendation and on that question, and then ask you 

whether you plan to implement those. 

Mr. GANDHI. I think very specifically as to procurement, which 

has been a perennial problem in the District, what we have done 

from our corner of the city is to make sure that no amount will be 

paid until we are assured of a proper contract, of a proper invoice, 

a legitimate authority, procurement authority that would have approved the contract as well as the invoice, and assurance that the 

goods and services have been received. 

No amount will be paid or has been paid that does not satisfy 

this requirement of the procurement and the requirement that the 

goods have been received and payments properly authorized. And 

that has been also true of the recent OCTO scandal in the Technology Office. All that we have done was proper. 

The other thing that we should note here is that an employee, 

our own employee, basically alerted authorities about this. To facilitate this, we also have a toll-free hotline managed by an outside 

vendor. So if any of our employees were to find out that something 

is going on here, they do not have to tell us. They can just call the 

hotline, which is managed, as I said, by an outside vendor. 

So we have taken all possible steps that could prevent fraud happening again in the city. 

Senator AKAKA. Dr. Gandhi, I am pleased that you are setting 

up a 24-hour hotline. 

Mr. GANDHI. Yes, sir. 

Senator AKAKA. Operated by a third-party, as you said, to allow 

employees to report fraud and mismanagement without fear of retribution. What other protections are in place to ensure that whistleblowers feel comfortable coming forward to report fraud and financial mismanagement in the District? 

Mr. GANDHI. Well, we have the whistleblower protection law, 

which is rather a strict law, and goes beyond the Federal law in 

19 

protecting any of our employees who would alert the management 

either through internal channels or through the fraud hotline. But 

more than anything else is the climate that we would create of not 

being afraid to speak up, not to be fearful to tell the authorities or 

colleagues if something untoward is happening. It is extremely important that we create that level of climate and collegiality within 

the Administration. 

Senator AKAKA. Mr. Willoughby. 

Mr. WILLOUGHBY. I would also like to point out that the Inspector General’s office also has a hotline. We also have a website on 

which people can file complaints. And they can also walk in and 

file complaints anonymously. 

I can also say that in my office we have increased our outreach 

efforts. We now have what we call corruption seminars where we 

go out to the various agencies and speak—and I personally participate in that—and where we encourage people to report matters to 

our office. And we also impress upon them or try to impress upon 

them their obligation. Under the personnel regulations for the District of Columbia, employees are obligated to report matters to the 

Inspector General’s office. And so we try to inform people and let 

them know that they need to report matters, and if they have a 

question, what I tell the employees is that if it is a question—even 

if it is just something that they are thinking or they think there 

may be a problem, they should contact the Office of the Inspector 

General, and they should never feel reluctant to do so. 

And so we have expanded our outreach efforts to try to encourage individuals and, also, I think probably the most important 

thing in my mind is to try to impress upon people the importance 

of what they are doing, because what they are doing affects individuals’ lives. 

Senator AKAKA. Well, let me ask both of you my final question. 

What response result have you had on the hotline? 

Mr. WILLOUGHBY. We always have thousands of calls. Now, with 

the OTR matter, we did not get—well, my office was involved with 

the OCTO matter and with the OTR matter from a law enforcement standpoint. But we regularly get numerous—hundreds, thousands of calls that come in, and we do report that information to 

the Congress on an annual basis. 

Senator AKAKA. Dr. Gandhi. 

Mr. GANDHI. The same. We have been receiving numbers of calls 

on the hotline, tips. Indeed, one of the tax scandals that had appeared was discovered through tips, and that we are able to resolve 

those issues. 

I think the issue of training is very important, this kind of climate does not just happen. You have to train. Any new employee 

who joins our office has to go through an orientation training 

where we tell them these are the things you do, these are the 

things you do not do, do not even think about. That is very important for us. 

Senator AKAKA. Thank you. Senator Voinovich. 

Senator VOINOVICH. The procurement people, are they under 

your jurisdiction? 

Mr. GANDHI. No, sir. 

20 

1The information submitted for the record appears in the Appendix on page 65. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Again, it is the city, so you can comment on 

procurement. One of the things that is coming up everywhere is we 

have a major procurement problem everywhere in the Federal Government, and you have it in the local government. Is it because of 

the fact that procurement people are not out there? Or is there a 

special kind of education that they should be getting? And have 

you ever talked to anybody about maybe working with the University of the District of Columbia or some other place to talk about 

the kinds of people that you need to work in procurement? 

Mr. GANDHI. In general, it has been very difficult to hire people 

for the District. To get people with specialized training, such as 

procurement, such as technology, such as finance, is additionally 

difficult. 

Our problem here is that we are competing against the Federal 

Government; we are competing against the accounting firms and 

the consulting firms. And there is no way we can provide the kind 

of attractive salary packages—— 

Senator VOINOVICH. How do you compare with the Federal Government? 

Mr. GANDHI. Not well. Our fringe benefits—how shall I put it— 

compare very poorly. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Well, can you submit that for the record. I 

would like to have that information about it.1

Mr. GANDHI. We will do that. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Because if you cannot compete for the people, how do you expect to bring them on board? 

Mr. GANDHI. Absolutely. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Or, for that matter, keep them. Because I 

suspect if you get somebody that is good, somebody offers them a 

job in the Federal Government or someplace else. 

Mr. GANDHI. To cite an example, sir, I am a Federal annuitant 

and I enjoy, because of my service at GAO, health benefits coming 

from the Federal Government. Had it not been the case, I would 

have been very reluctant to join the District Government. 

Now, I must say that, despite all this, the city is the place to be 

if you want challenging work, if you want to change a life. That is 

the place to be. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Well, it is a combination of both things. I always tell people if you are working in city government, part of your 

compensation has to be that you are making a difference in people’s lives that is important. 

Mr. GANDHI. Exactly right. 

Senator VOINOVICH. But I think also they have to feed their families and take care of all the other things that need to be taken 

care of. 

Do you have pay for performance in the city government, or is 

it just the regular salary? 

Mr. GANDHI. Well, we do have bonuses. Of course, these are not 

the American International Group (AIG) bonuses, but we provide 

some bonuses as an attraction. 

Senator VOINOVICH. So you do performance evaluation in your 

shop of people that work for you? 

21 

Mr. GANDHI. Yes, sir. Everyone has to go through the performance evaluation, yes, sir. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Alright. Is that the same case in other departments in city government? 

Mr. GANDHI. Right, absolutely. 

Senator VOINOVICH. They really do performance evaluations? 

Mr. GANDHI. Yes, sir. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Is it pay for performance based on the—— 

Mr. GANDHI. Well, promotions and the pay raises would depend 

upon how you have performed. 

Senator VOINOVICH. OK. What is the biggest revenue raiser? 

Your revenues are down, but if you look at the sources of revenue 

for the city, give me the top two. 

Mr. GANDHI. Absolutely right. Income tax is about 33 percent; 

real property taxes, another 33 percent; sales taxes—— 

Senator VOINOVICH. Income tax, one-third. 

Mr. GANDHI. One-third. Real property, another third. Sales tax, 

15 percent; gross receipts, around 5 percent; and then the rest of 

them, around 14 percent. 

Senator VOINOVICH. So that the hit you are taking in terms of 

your revenues would be probably the sales tax? Where do you see 

the shrinkage most? 

Mr. GANDHI. Most of the shrinkage here is in our commercial 

real property taxes. That has been an engine for us. 

Senator VOINOVICH. So that point is the brunt, most of the— 

about 50 percent of the real estate taxes come from commercial, or 

is it more than that? 

Mr. GANDHI. Yes, more than that. The reason for that is that the 

District real property has been among the hottest real property 

markets in the country, if not in the world. We are second only to 

Manhattan in terms of real property, commercial real property. 

Also, the residential real property is doing comparatively well 

when you compare it with other regions. However, lately, because 

of the freeze in the financial markets, nothing moves. So the deals 

are not being made in the District. So-called deed and recordation 

transfer taxes, we used to get about $400 million a year. Now we 

cut that in half. 

Senator VOINOVICH. In what, the transfer taxes? 

Mr. GANDHI. Transfer taxes, deed and recordation and transfer 

taxes, we cut that in half, primarily because the financial markets 

are frozen, no deals are being made. The city cannot get that level 

of taxes on deed transfers and recordations. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Have you seen an acceleration of people filing claims to have their property values reduced? 

Mr. GANDHI. Absolutely right. We have an explosion of so-called 

appeals, particularly from the commercial real property holders, 

and we have provided huge sums of discounts in those areas because we know that we are going to lose money there. And that is 

why the $1 billion that we have reduced in our total taxes, the bulk 

of that comes from the real property and income taxes. 

Senator VOINOVICH. All right. And, of course, you cannot tax Federal buildings or universities or hospitals. 

Mr. GANDHI. Since you raised the issue, sir, I want to point out 

that we used to have offices on Judiciary Square, on the 11th floor. 

22 

I looked outside my office, and I saw museums, monuments, galleries—nothing I could tax. That is a fundamental problem. 

Senator VOINOVICH. You can tax the income from the people that 

are building them, but you cannot tax the buildings. 

Mr. GANDHI. But even there, we have a problem, what we have 

is that most of the people, professional people, I should say, working in those firms, consulting firms, the law firms, they live in the 

suburbs. 

Senator VOINOVICH. They what? 

Mr. GANDHI. Live in Maryland and Virginia. Of every $100 that are earned in the city, we get to tax only $34; $66 are taxed in 

Maryland and Virginia. It is like going to a restaurant, and you 

would say of all the people who are eating here, only one-third will 

pay, two-thirds will not pay, and everyone will complain about bad 

food and bad service. It is as simple as that. We are the only place 

in the world where income is not taxed at the source. 

I recall coming to you, sir, with Tony Williams, and we talked 

about this at that time. And you said, ‘‘Well, how do you pay your 

bills?’’ Well, I must say that is difficult. But with a great credit to 

the mayor and the council, the elected leadership, and the help 

that we get from Congress, we are able to show performance here 

which is the envy of many cities. 

Senator VOINOVICH. Thank you very much. 

Senator AKAKA. Dr. Gandhi, because I consider Senator Voinovich as a champion of human capital, I want to ask this question 

of you. I understand the OCFO is struggling with recruiting and 

retention. In the wake of the Office of Tax Revenue scandal, investment in human capital and incorporating accountability and oversight into your human capital planning are particularly important. 

What do you see as the OCFO’s greatest human capital challenges? And have you developed a strategic human capital plan to 

address them? 

Mr. GANDHI. I think that is the heart of the matter, sir, to find 

the right kind of people, people with skills that we need, people 

with training that we need, people with experience that we need. 

Those are not available to us as freely as elsewhere, particularly 

in the areas of tax, economics, financial analysis, and technology. 

We have a hard time finding the right mix of people. 

I am very proud of the staff that we do have. They do wonderful 

work. But, still, I can do more if I had more people of that requisite 

skills and expertise. 

Senator AKAKA. Thank you 

Mr. Willoughby, I applaud the cooperative partnerships that 

seems to exist between the D.C. Inspector General, the OCFO, and 

D.C. Council in the wake of the Tax and Revenue scandal. Aside 

from increased interagency communications, what benefits do you 

see these partnerships yielding? And how do you believe they will 

contribute to improvements in the management of District funds? 

Mr. WILLOUGHBY. I believe that the partnerships will contribute 

or are worthwhile because of the fact, as I said, we are striving for 

the same thing—an effective and efficient government. I believe 

that by having open channels of communication, agency heads and 

agency staff will be more willing, I guess, to share information with 

us that would be helpful to us in the performance of our duties, 

23 

that they realized the role of this office and, I guess, not only their 

obligation to cooperate with the office, but the importance of them 

doing so. 

When you asked the question, Mr. Chairman, it came to mind 

that one of the risk areas we have is the school system, DCPS, as 

you referred to earlier. We have an on-site presence at DCPS, and 

one of the reasons we have that is to encourage the communication 

and encourage our understanding of operations there. And it cuts 

down on, I guess, delays that we may encounter and gives us a better appreciation of operations and, consequently, makes our reports 

more meaningful. 

So, in essence, I guess, I believe that many problems stem from— 

and this is just life—many problems stem from a lack of communication, and I think it is very important, if you are going to solve 

a problem, that you have open channels of communication. 

Now, as I like to tell agency directors, the nature of the work of 

the IG is such that sometimes I can tell them things and sometimes I cannot. Sometimes I wish I could do more to help them, but 

because of the nature of the operation of the IG’s office, the whole 

concept, I cannot. But I try to be as forthright and as honest because I think in the long run that is beneficial, because then we 

can work together to solve a problem, whereas it is not a situation 

of us against them. So I think the communication is extremely important and beneficial for that purpose. 

Senator AKAKA. Thank you. I have one last question for Dr. Gandhi and one for you, Mr. Willoughby. 

Dr. Gandhi, given the financial management challenges of the 

past and anticipated challenges for the future, what are your top 

three priorities for District finances as we move forward? 

Mr. GANDHI. The most important priority I have is to make sure 

that we balance the budget going forward and the commitment 

that we have made to the Congress and to the citizens that we will 

remain balanced, not only in the current year but on a 5-year plan. 

The second important consideration I have is that the AAA ratings that we have received lately from Wall Street, the credibility 

that we enjoy on Wall Street, financial viability, we want to make 

sure that we do not deviate from that. 

And the third priority I have is to make sure that we protect the 

taxpayer dollars. We are the guardian of the District’s taxpayer 

dollars, that we never want to deviate from that mission, from that 

stewardship, that we keep enjoying the confidence of the taxpayers 

who trust their hard-earned tax dollars to us. 

So those are the three important priorities I keep in my mind as 

I wake up in the morning. 

Senator AKAKA. Thank you very much for that, Dr. Gandhi. 

Now, Mr. Willoughby, now that you have heard this, how do you 

plan to aid the OCFO in achieving these priorities? 

Mr. WILLOUGHBY. Well, I guess briefly, to continue to do what we 

have been doing. One of the things, when you asked the question, 

Mr. Chairman, about finances, in determining areas to look into, 

we have a number of themes that we rely on. First and foremost 

is what we call revenue enhancement, and basically what that says 

is that we want to make sure that the city, that the District of Columbia takes advantage of all the revenue sources that similar enVerDate Nov 24 2008 13:43 Apr 08, 2010 Jkt 050385 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 P:\DOCS\50385.TXT SAFFAIRS PsN: PAT
24 

tities have, and then next to make sure that money is spent efficiently and effectively. 

I like to say that money is very important because you cannot 

do anything without money. So I want to make sure that the city 

receives all the money it is supposed to receive, and then with that 

money it delivers the basic services and the services that it is intended to. And so that is why Medicaid is very important to us, because I believe the city is not taking full advantage of that. 

I believe that if we do those things, if we keep in the forefront 

making sure that the city receives the monies that it is supposed 

to be receiving and that the money is spent effectively, we will be 

going a long way toward achieving our eventual goal of having an 

effective and efficient government. And the way I can expect to 

help Dr. Gandhi and other agency heads is to continue what we 

have been doing, being accessible, working with them as much as 

we can within the confines of what an IG has the responsibility of 

doing, and just doing what we have been doing, I guess. That is 

my answer. 

Senator AKAKA. Thank you very much, Mr. Willoughby. 

Mr. WILLOUGHBY. Thank you. 

Senator AKAKA. I want to thank both of you for testifying today. 

Your responses have been great. Based on your testimony, we have 

learned a great deal about problems with the District’s financial 

management as well as the progress that has been made. 

I believe government functions best when all of its members 

work together, and I am pleased to see the D.C. Inspector General 

taking such an active role in advising and working with OCFO. I 

know that you are working together to exercise good financial management and to safeguard District taxpayer dollars. 

I hope you will redouble your efforts to make sure that good internal controls are in place throughout the District Government 

and to address chronic problems in the Medicaid program. It is my 

hope that recommendations from this hearing and continued input 

from the D.C. Inspector General and GAO as well will help D.C. 

stay on a path to financial recovery. 

This hearing record will remain open for one week during which 

time Members of the Subcommittee may submit additional written 

questions. 

So thank you very much, again, for your presence here, your testimony, and your responses. 

Mr. GANDHI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for your 

leadership. 

Mr. WILLOUGHBY. Thank you very much. 

Senator AKAKA. Thank you. This hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 11:31 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.] 

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