Meet the New Georgia Department of Revenue Commissioner

 

Recently, The Georgia Society of CPAs had the opportunity to sit down with the newly appointed Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Revenue. Governor Brian Kemp appointed commissioner David Curry to this position in May 2019. The Georgia Society of CPAs enjoyed their time with the Commissioner and is excited to work with him in the years ahead.

(GSCPA) Without a doubt, you have had lots of prior experience that has led you to where you are today. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how your experiences apply to your new role?

(Commissioner Curry) – Well, I'll answer the second part of the question first.

I believe as individuals, we are all an accumulation of all the experiences and all the people we have crossed paths with – family, friends, churchgoers, workmates, and we take a little bit of that experience and take a little bit of that relationship with us and hopefully grow from it.

What led me to be Revenue Commissioner certainly was not a straight line.

I was 18 years old and had a plan to go to college, and my father told me to get a job instead. So, in my senior year in April, I went to work at Ford Motor Company at the assembly plant. I worked there for a couple of years before I realized I didn't want to chase cars on the assembly line the rest of my life.

Ford offered an opportunity to be in their apprenticeship program. I spent four years in their apprenticeship program, and they eventually offered to pay for my college. So, I went to Mercer University and graduated from their Atlanta campus. I went on to become a negotiator between the Union and Ford. The Union office had their wants, Ford had their needs, and we needed to pull the two together. That experience helped me build negotiating skills.

In terms of how I got here, I had set my mind to retire from Ford at age 48 and then pursue another career. After speaking with our local tax commissioner at the time, I felt it was right for me to run for office in 2008 and take office in 2009. It honestly was probably one of the worst times in the history of Henry County to be the Tax Commissioner. At the time when I took office, we had five local community banks. By the time that first four-year term was over, we had lost all five banks. Within that first four years, I realized being Tax Commissioner was less about taxes and more about helping people. Many people lost their jobs during that period. They needed help, and they wanted to know that I was not going to come in and take them from their homes.

I did the Tax Commissioner job for about 7 or 8 years, and like most people, I began to wonder what was next. If you're capable, and you have the skill set, then go to the next level.

For me, the next step was to apply for the position of Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Revenue. I got an interview, and I thought it a long shot be honest.

However, the interview went well, and I got a call back for a second interview. The second interview ended up being a job offer, and I came on board in May.

(GSCPA) – In the short time that you have been Commissioner, has your understanding/perspective of the job performed by the Department of Revenue changed at all?

(Commissioner Curry) – The number one thing that has changed is my understanding of the size and complexity of the organization. We have ten different divisions, with 1,100 employees and ten satellite offices. We even have employees out of state. I never thought about that – employees out of state doing audits. It's just a huge organization. It has many branches to the tree and leading an organization, so complex with such a large footprint in the state of Georgia is a wonderful challenge.

(GSCPA) – What is it like being Commissioner of the Department of Revenue? What does a typical day look like, or is there a typical day?

(Commissioner Curry) – I don't know what a typical day is just yet. It's only been three months. The first few months have felt a little disjointed, but as my vision is shared and presented to the employees and department heads and directors, they are tweaking what their focuses are as well.

At the end of the day, it's about people. How do we serve the people of Georgia in the best way possible? Yes, there's the technical side of what we do, and there's the policy, but what matters is making the experience more pleasing for customers.

My goal is to have a concerted effort that we are improving every day.

(GSCPA) – How can GSCPA and our members help you with your goal?

(Commissioner Curry) – I recently attended the joint GSCPA and DOR event at GSCPA's offices. I can say with certainty that having those open lines of communications with your members, the practitioners that are doing the work, reading the notices, actively participating in the process with our customers, is going to be such an essential part of the effort for daily improvement. I appreciate the relationship between the two organizations and look forward to the years ahead.

Questions/Comments? If you have any questions regarding current legislative topics, please contact Don Cook, VP, legislative affairs at 404-504-2935 or dcook@gscpa.org.