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LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE WINS FTA AWARD FOR TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS
(Washington,
D.C., March 24, 2005) The Federation of Tax Administrators announced
today that the Louisiana Department of Revenue is winner of the 2005
FTA Award for Technology Applications in State Tax Administration.
Presentation
of the award will take place during the FTA
Annual Meeting, June 13-15
in San Antonio, Texas.
The Louisiana Department of Revenue DELTA
Project was a multi-year effort to modernize and integrate revenue operations,
affecting 20 tax programs. It established an enterprise-wide architecture
allowing the Department of Revenue to operate more efficiently, improve
service and increase revenues. Delivered on time and within budget – something
of a miracle for a major integration project – the integrated tax
system now permits department employees to accomplish tasks faster and
to be more productive in their jobs.
Judges
cited the program as a "study in how tax administration ought to be
carried out." They noted
that that in spite of the broad scope and extreme difficulty of major
change "the project was delivered within schedule against the planned
timetable and costs … the timeframes within which the reengineered
tax systems were phased in are impressive." They pointed to the
breadth of change, noting that the project successfully addressed quality,
customer service (including an improved quality of taxpayer contacts),
cost reductions, cash management and enhancements in revenues collected.
The
Louisiana project also got high marks for its ability to be transferred
to other state tax authorities, since it is based on the concept of
a single integrated database of taxpayer information operating off
of a server. The approach also minimized the pain of change and helped
to control costs.
The entries were judged by an independent
panel consisting of Larry Westfall, U.S. Treasury; Lissa Henderson,
CACI, Inc.; and Steve Holden, University of Maryland.
The Federation of Tax Administrators
is a nonprofit organization composed of the tax and revenue departments
of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and New York City. Its
mission is to improve the standards and methods of tax administration.
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