Office of the Chief Financial Officer: Biography -- Deputy CFO, Office of Tax and Revenue

Biography
Stephen M. Cordi
Deputy CFO, Office of Tax and Revenue

Stephen M. Cordi serves as Deputy Chief Financial Officer for the District’s Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR). With more than 30 years of experience in the private and public sectors, he ensures that the agency will collect the proper amount of tax due to the District of Columbia and correctly account for all revenues, while minimizing the burden on taxpayers and the cost to the government.

Before coming to the District, he worked in all aspects of tax administration with the Maryland Comptroller’s Office, ranging from litigating contested cases to hands-on experience with registration, returns processing, taxpayer service, taxpayer accounting, revenue accounting and case management. He participated in tax administration issues across the country through leadership roles in national and regional state tax officials’ associations and coordinated a variety of tax administration functions with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation.

He also worked closely with local government to provide assistance in collecting local taxes as well as supervised the collection of major taxes on behalf of city and county governments by the Comptroller’s Office. He served on the Maryland Government Finance Officers’ Association for 20 years, including service as president.

Cordi participated in the acquisition by the Maryland Comptroller’s Office of the Accenture TAS integrated tax system in the 1990s, including evaluating the proposal and ultimately serving on the implementation steering committee.

He also represented the Comptroller’s Office before the Maryland General Assembly at each session from 1975 through 2005, acted as Comptroller’s chief spokesman on tax matters and the agency’s budget before the General Assembly while serving as deputy (beginning with the 1995 session).

Upon retirement, at the request of the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, was retained by the General Assembly as a contractual consultant on tax policy and administration issues for the 2006 session. He Appeared before Congress on behalf of the Federation of Tax Administrators.

In private law practice, he successfully represented clients concerning tax legislation before the 2007 regular and special sessions of the Maryland General Assembly.

Cordi earned his law degree from Georgetown University’s Law Center, a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, and a bachelor’s from Haverford College.