Revenue commissioner outlines $19M systems upgrade and prepares for potential surplus refunds
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Summary
Commissioner Frank O'Connell told the subcommittee the Department of Revenue seeks $6.5M for DRIVES and $12.5M for ITS core-26 upgrades (about $19M total) to modernize systems and better protect taxpayer data, and warned surplus tax refunds are contingent on passage of House Bill 1,000 and will require substantial operational work.
Frank O'Connell, Georgia's revenue commissioner, told the Appropriations subcommittee that the department's amended FY26 budget includes major IT modernization requests and operational preparations for a proposed round of surplus tax refunds.
O'Connell described two core IT requests: $6,500,000 for the driver record and integrated vehicle enterprise system (DRIVES) upgrade and $12,500,000 for the integrated tax system (ITS) "core 26" upgrade. He said the upgrades will modernize architecture, convert legacy code to current programming languages, strengthen cybersecurity protections (including encrypting sensitive taxpayer and driver data), enable more online transactions for taxpayers and improve cloud infrastructure to reduce operational risk.
O'Connell said the alternative—replacing one of those systems with a new vendor—was estimated by consultants at $100,000,000 over 10 years, with a more modular "plug-and-play" multi-vendor approach estimated at $300,000,000 over 10 years, making the $19,000,000 upgrade a cost-effective approach in his view.
He also highlighted the governor's proposed $2,000 salary supplement and enhanced retirement benefits for certain post-certified law enforcement officers at the department.
On surplus tax refunds proposed by the governor (included in AFY26 on line 42.10.0.2), O'Connell said the program is "contingent upon the General Assembly's passage of House Bill 1,000" and warned that implementing the refunds will require substantial system programming, self-service options for taxpayers and increased staff capacity to handle higher call volume.
Committee members asked about local downstream effects for county tax commissioners and about relative costs; O'Connell asked his CIO to clarify that local users will benefit from the upgrades and said counties are end users of the system.
O'Connell characterized these presentations as his final in the role and thanked the committee for its consideration; no appropriation votes occurred in the hearing.