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DOR IT chief outlines Gentax modernization, ELVIS work and request for staffing to maintain systems
Summary
Information Technology leaders told the committee that Oregon's tax systems are largely modernized but still require ongoing upgrades and staff; the department requested POP 101 to sustain work on property tax modernization and maintenance.
John Dolan, the new division administrator for the Information Technology Services Division (ITSD) at the Oregon Department of Revenue, told the General Government Subcommittee on March 12 that the agency has completed most of a long‑running IT modernization and is seeking staff and budget authority to maintain and finish remaining projects.
Dolan said ITSD supports more than 1,000 employees, “banks over $20,000,000,000 in tax payments annually,” processes roughly 390,000 paper tax returns a year and operates a processing center that handled more than 1,500,000 pieces of mail and more than 7,000,000 banking transactions in 2023.
ITSD described three large modernization waves beginning in 2013. The department has completed two of three major projects, modernized 21 smaller systems with three remaining, and reduced its application portfolio from 109 to 25 applications ahead of schedule. Dolan said the electronic valuation information system (ELVIS) work has two phases: phase 1 (central assessment) was implemented as a Gentax modification; phase 2 (industrial property) initially targeted a new platform but has reverted to a Gentax deployment under the department’s contingency plan.
Committee members questioned readiness for emerging risks. Dolan said the department follows National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidance and works with the state cyber center; he explained there are redundant data‑center backups and that future roadmap work envisions cloud hosting to improve availability. He described Gentax upgrades as coordinated with Fast Enterprises (the Gentax vendor) and a mix of in‑house and contracted work; Gentax is used by many other states and the department runs separate development and production environments to avoid service outages during upgrades.
The department requested POP 101 to maintain and complete property tax system work (ELVIS phases) and to add staffing: an increase of four positions (3.2 FTE) with roughly $1.4 million in additional funds in the governor’s recommended budget for ITSD if approved. Dolan said Gentax operations staff (about 30 FTE) will be focused on a major upgrade scheduled for 2026.
Ending: Dolan invited lawmakers to tour the processing center and offered follow‑up details on ELVIS phase 2 and project funding.
