The Commonwealth of MassachusettsDepartment of RevenueOffice of the Commissioner

PO Box 9550Boston, MA 02114-9550

June 24, 2015

Team DOR:

Much is happening at the Department of Revenue!

In my travels around the organization, I have been struck by the strong commitment to mission as well as the clear caring and respect for one another.  The recent engagement survey underscored this feeling (while also highlighting some of the things that we need to work on….more on that later).

With the departure of approximately 350 of our colleagues (with ANF/IT) on July 1st due to the Employee Retirement Incentive Program (ERIP), our organization’s structure and approach will need to change.

Thank You to ERIP Employees

Let me start, however, with a ‘thank you’ to these colleagues for their many and varied contributions over the years to the success of DOR.  Over the coming days, emblematic of the literally thousands of important contributions, I plan to highlight some of these amazing stories for you on DORNET.   The Agency got to where it is because of you; and it simply couldn’t move onward to its bright future without the terrific people you have trained and developed who will lead and operate our important missions going forward.  THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS AND SERVICE!

I also wanted to highlight that a number of our long-tenured leaders have elected to take the ERIP. Dave Davenport, Tanya Harrison, Mike Lividoti, Joe McDermott, Laurie McGrath, Paul Naves, and Terri O’Brien-Horan have made this election.  Additionally, Jim Reynolds, who has served the Agency for 37 years, most recently as Senior Deputy Commissioner and an indispensable advisor to me and previous Commissioners, will also be taking the ERIP (though not quite retiring!). Please join me in thanking them for their extraordinary leadership, profound contribution, and caring spirit during their stewardship of the Agency.

How We’ll Transition

I would like to describe to you the organization that we plan to implement on July 1st and ask for your help and support in its successful implementation. The ERIP forces us to undertake considerable changes but it’s important to recognize that this is not simply a reaction to the ERIP. I believe that a restructuring offers the opportunity to make our organization function more effectively: the fundamental intent is to make DOR a better place. Nevertheless, please understand that this is a work in progress and I’ll continue to review your suggestions and incorporate that input into the transition and restructuring.

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MARK NUNNELLYCOMMISSIONER

In collaboration with the senior leadership and with all of you, I believe there are a few key objectives which we need to set out to operate in a post ERIP world:

As an Agency, we should evaluate all of our key processes and define the most valuable things we do so that we can supply them with the appropriate resources. Likewise, we must determine the difference between the “need to haves” and the “nice to haves” so we can concentrate on the former and stop doing the latter.

Change is easier to manage through a streamlined organization with stronger and more well-defined leadership roles driving more of our key activities.

When reorganizing their efforts in high change, dynamic and strong organizations use a mix of human capital to achieve their efforts, including 1) relying on current leaders for continuity, wisdom, and perspective, 2) promoting new leaders from within to tap into vibrant energy and creativity, and 3) inviting new leaders from outside the organization to bring fresh and new ideas.

Though we’ll be undertaking an important transition, some things won't change. Key leaders will stay in the critical roles that they are currently leading:

Kevin Brown will continue to serve as General Counsel. Kevin's advice and counsel across a myriad of issues has been incredibly helpful in my inauguration into the Agency.

Sean Cronin has brought a new and important energy to the Division of Local Services along with a clear understanding of what is viable and sustainable. His work as Vice Chair of the Community Compact Cabinet has already gained lots of traction.

Deb Rokosz’s innovative leadership of our Appeals efforts has built significant momentum for the Agency as we try to find easier and faster paths to resolution like mediation.

Kazim Ozyurt's clear and thoughtful leadership of an extraordinary array of tax and revenue topics is well known and respected throughout State government and beyond.

Dana Ackerman is very highly regarded for her advocacy and constituent view in Tax.  As such, she will continue her leadership of PRO and will become an amplified voice in the industry as she assumes the role of the Agency's Taxpayer Advocate, replacing Dennis Buckley, who will be taking the ERIP.

New Organizational Structure

Nonetheless, we will still need to make important changes to our business model and so I am making 3 key organizational shifts from how we operate today:

1) Tax will be structured as one organization with 3 key functions:  Audit, Taxpayer Service, and Resolution (which will include Appeals, Litigation, PRO, and the Taxpayer Advocate to begin and over time as we iterate our approach on amended returns, the abatement process will likely reside here as well). 

To simplify tax, we need to take more of an “end-to-end” view of what we do.  Unresolved audits lead to expensive appeals cases, which in turn lead to even more expensive litigation cases.  While our work must always be a balance of cost/benefit and compliance, I think this more holistic view will lead to a more efficient and fair process for our constituents as well as more interesting and rewarding roles for our employees.

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2) All of our administrative, facility, finance, human resources, and labor relations functions will be brought under one umbrella organization, the Administrative Affairs Division. 

It will include the current  Inspectional Services Division, which will be renamed the Risk Management and Assessment Group, building off of the early steps made by ISD to move to a more “get it right the first time” philosophy.  Human Resources will be adding workforce development and training resources and will be renamed “Human Capital Development”, recognizing what I believe is a need for more career development and practical performance management.

3) All of our external facing activities, will be combined under one umbrella into the Legislative/External Affairs & Policy Division, or “LEAP”, and will include Rulings & Regulations, OTPA, Communications, and Web & Media Services. 

LEAP will be responsible for actively managing the considerable number of external relationships we have, whether with legislators, filers, or government affairs organizations.  I hope that we can become more efficient by consolidating our response efforts (e.g., knowledge management) and more proactive with our various policy and regulatory agendas.

With these operational changes will come smaller ancillary changes. Some of you may be asked to move your workspace in order to consolidate and move closer to your new teams/work area. Some may need to obtain new access permissions for their employee ID cards. Don’t worry! We’re here to support you and help make the transition process as easy as possible for you.

Operationalizing with People

To implement this organization, effective July 1st, the following executive changes will be made:

Jim Reynolds has agreed to serve in an interim capacity and will become head of the entire Tax Branch, having responsibility for moving us toward a more efficient, fair, and friendly structure for taxpayers;

o Bill Graham will assume overall responsibility for the Audit Division, with responsibility to make GeniSys a successful tool for us and our constituents and to create stronger accountability for resolution through more delegated authority within our audit structure;

o We are already conducting a search for a new leader of the reconstituted Taxpayer Service Division, including internal candidates. In the interim, Charlene Hannaford will serve as the Acting DC;

o Pete Donnelly, renowned Gentax implementation expert, and formerly of the Georgia and Montana Departments of Revenue, will work side by side with Jim, Bill, and Charlene to ensure GeniSys is implemented effectively into the business;

o Laurie McGrath has agreed to serve in an interim capacity as head of our Resolution Division, helping to define how we work on the highest impact cases (both cost/benefit and compliance)

Michele Cristello will become the new Deputy Commissioner of Child Support Enforcement, while maintaining an active leadership profile within the critical COMETS HD project;

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Dave Davenport will return on a short-term appointment and become the Acting head of the newly formed Legislative, External Affairs & Policy Division; a search is underway for a full-time Deputy Commissioner to fill this role;

Michael Fatale will become Deputy General Counsel of the Agency, working with Kevin Brown to provide overall strategic direction and counsel to all of our legal efforts;

Melissa Diorio will become the full-time Director of Human Capital Development, including taking over responsibility for the Agency’s training and workforce development efforts;

Rebecca Forter will become Bureau Chief of the Rulings & Regulations Bureau;

John Mogni will become the Chief Risk Management Officer;

Breean Fortier, formerly of Deloitte Consulting, Harvard University and Northeastern University, and currently Deputy Chief for Performance Management in the office of Governor Baker, has agreed to lead the Administrative Affairs Division and become its Deputy Commissioner;

o A search is underway to find a new Chief Financial Officer, including internal candidates; in the interim, Breean will become the Agency’s Acting CFO;

Crosby Burns, a recent graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government has been hired to work in the Commissioner’s Office, handling an array of initiatives and special projects;

Finally, at the completion of his work for ERIP planning, Michael Rybicki will become the Agency’s Chief of Staff taking on oversight of the Agency’s strategic planning and operations research functions.

Onward and Upward!

There is obviously much work to be done and refinements to be made over the coming weeks to make this a reality.  I need your help to make the breadth of these changes happen in the short period of time that we have.  Thank you in advance for your support, patience, and thoughtful perspective.

The Agency’s future is bright.  Let’s work together to make it happen.

With heartfelt thanks,

________________________________________Mark Nunnelly, CommissionerDepartment of RevenueSpecial Advisor to the Governor ForInnovation CompetitivenessTel: (617) 626-2201Fax: (617) 626-2299

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