The Bottom Line - Spring 2018 - 20

OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL

Working with the Mayor,
City Council and the Congress
By Patricia Gracyalny, Assistant General Counsel and
Aaron Droller, Assistant General Counsel

he Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO)
occupies a unique position within the District
government. As a result of the District's financial
crisis of the 1990s, the U.S. Congress created the
Office of the CFO to be a neutral and independent
arbiter of the District's finances. Policy makers and
financial staff must work together to develop a balanced budget for the coming fiscal year (October 1
to September 30), and the District's CFO must certify to the Congress that the District's budget and
financial plan are balanced.
As legislative counsel to the OCFO, part of our role
is to build and maintain positive relationships with
the policy makers. The key ingredient to these relationships is trust. The Mayor and Councilmembers,
as well as Members of Congress, expect the OCFO
to provide objective, nonpartisan guidance and
analysis on all money matters in the city, ranging
from tax to budget to the D.C. Lottery. We provide
assistance on a variety of issues including real property tax matters, income and sales tax compliance
and much more.
We also help elected officials, and their staffs,
to better understand the legal and financial implications of their policies, without opining on the
merits of the policies themselves. Each year, legislative counsel attorneys review about 200 Fiscal
Impact Statements, drafted by the Office of

THE BOTTOM LINE | WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE DO

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Bottom Line - Spring 2018