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Finance director outlines modernization progress and ongoing work in revenue administration
Summary
Sheila White, senior director for finance, presented a detailed status report on upgrades to Richmond’s revenue administration division, including Munis and ERP updates, RVA Pay, DMV data cleanup, a business portal launch, new SOPs and a consultant’s final report.
Sheila White, senior director for finance for the City of Richmond, told the Finance and Economic Development Standing Committee that the Revenue Administration Division has undergone substantial modernization over the past 16 months, but that work will continue through 2026.
White said the city produced 75,905 second-half real estate bills for 2025 and that 33,270 of those bills were mailed to property owners rather than mortgage servicers. She said the bills were accurate and that the department is processing refund requests tied to duplicate payments and conducting account analyses to identify overpayments and options for refunds or credits.
White outlined system upgrades and organizational changes: the city’s enterprise resource planning system and its Munis revenue module have been upgraded to supported versions; RVA Pay is live for personal property; 71 of 76 identified standard operating procedures (SOPs) have been created; and a control division was added to provide independent checks on SOP adherence, quality control and training.
She said the department brought in an outside consultant earlier in the year whose final report included management tools, process redesign and interim leadership support; the consultant helped advance personal property billing and the business portal work. The department has added daily operational dashboards, unit and individual work plans, a bookings tool for public appointments and a Gantt chart to manage billing calendars.
On personal property, White cited Virginia Code §58.1-3503 (the statutory requirement to use a recognized pricing guide) and said the city uses J.D. Powers (NADA/J.D. Power) valuation data along with other sources to improve vehicle valuation accuracy. She also described an ongoing data-cleanup effort with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles to correct legacy records.
White said the city launched the RVA Business Portal in January to move paper-based business tax and license processes online. She estimated about 14,500 businesses are currently active in the city’s database but that the state IRMS data indicate the city should have roughly 2.5 times that number, signaling a compliance and registration gap the city intends to address.
White asked for patience as the department completes a lengthy transformation and noted she will be leaving the city as a full-time employee; council members thanked her for her service and asked that the city take steps to preserve the reforms and maintain leadership continuity. Council members also said they would work with the auditor and the administration to create reporting dashboards and oversight worksheets to monitor continued progress.
No formal votes were required for the presentation. Council members used the update to request additional, follow-up details and to emphasize the importance of retaining institutional knowledge and staffing during the transition.
