Tax commissioner chooses management team

Ohio Tax Commissioner Jeff McClain this week announced the five deputy tax commissioners he has selected for his executive management team. All were chosen from existing Ohio Department of Taxation staff:

• Matt Chafin, deputy commissioner for audit and criminal investigations, is stepping into a new role in assuming responsibility for all audit activities by the department of taxation as well as oversight of the criminal investigations division and its involvement in enforcing of civil and criminal tax law in Ohio. He has served as chief counsel for the department for the past eight years.
• Steve Gray, deputy commissioner and chief administrative officer, is taking on additional responsibilities in this new role. He has, for eight years, managed the office of agency performance which includes the human resources division, organizational development (provides staff training and other community/educational services), facilities management, and the internal audit functions. He’ll continue in that role and will now also oversee the department’s information services division which handles all computer technology systems and functions.
• Brenda McDonald, deputy commissioner for tax operations, will be the principal manager of all business and individual taxes, from administration through operations. She’ll continue to oversee taxpayer services and the compliance division.
• Sarah O’Leary, will be deputy commissioner, chief legal counsel for the department overseeing all of the legal operations, including the division counsels, tax appeals and appeals management staff. She will additionally oversee the bankruptcy division, legislation, and communications offices. Sarah will also serve as the department’s chief ethics officer.
• Gregory Siegfried, deputy commissioner for analysis & fiscal services, will continue to manage the operations and functions of the tax analysis division and will assume responsibility for management oversight of the revenue accounting and revenue processing divisions as well as the division of tax equalization. Greg will also oversee the problem resolution office.

McClain and his team oversee a department of about 900 staff members responsible for administering more than two dozen state and local taxes, and revenue collections exceeding $30 billion a year.