Last month, the Federation of Tax Administrators (FTA) named First Deputy Commissioner, Kathleen McColgan, the 2023 Harley T. Duncan Leadership and Service Award recipient. This national award reflects Kathleen’s impeccable leadership and demonstrated commitment to being mindful of and responsive to the needs of others — be it internally (Revenue staff) or externally (city taxpayers).

The FTA Harley T. Duncan Award for Leadership and Service is presented to individuals who demonstrate a strong commitment to excellence, integrity, and work ethic leading to significant departmental improvements and impactful results — leadership traits Kathleen has consistently demonstrated since joining the Department of Revenue in 1998.

Throughout her 25-year tenure at Revenue, Kathleen has driven efficiency across multiple units, including intake, account analysis, tax discovery, payment processing, and the call center. She also demonstrated a steadfast commitment to innovation and efficiency when she led the department’s efforts to modernize its integrated tax system and improve customer experience.

As first deputy commissioner, Kathleen oversees Revenue’s tax collections and compliance programs, including processing returns and payments, enforcing regulations, and supporting taxpayer services. Before this role, she was the department’s director of continuous improvements from 2017 to 2018.

This year’s award marks the department’s second time receiving such prestigious recognition. The first was in 2020, when Revenue received two awards for our strong commitment to providing timely and quality service to city taxpayers. That year, we were recognized for our use of videos to educate and engage taxpayers and water customers, in addition to delivering evidence-based homeowner assistance across Philly neighborhoods.

Watch Kathleen summarize her approach to leadership in this short video.