Richard J. Geisenberger – Secretary of Finance

The Delaware Department of Finance’s mission is to promote Delaware’s fiscal health fairly and efficiently by forecasting, generating, collecting and accounting for funds critical to essential government services.

The Cabinet Secretary of Finance is the state’s Chief Financial Officer and is the central source for economic and fiscal policy and management of financial resources. The Office of the Secretary provides economic data, revenue and legislative analyses and public information services. The office also provides the three operating divisions with managerial and technical support in achieving department-wide goals.

The Office of the Secretary provides management and oversight of General Obligation debt and overall coordination and management of all debt of the state and state authorities. In addition, the office builds the foundation for the state’s General Fund budget process by providing the analysis and forecasting of revenues in support of the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council (DEFAC).

Division of Revenue

Director, Kathy Revel

As the primary revenue collector for the State, the division’s mission is to collect 100 percent of the taxes and other revenues required by law, no more and no less, and to do so in a manner that creates the highest possible level of satisfaction on the part of the public with the division’s competence, courtesy, effectiveness and efficiency.

Revenue revolves around three activities: tax processing, tax enforcement and policy formulation. Tax processing involves receiving documents and remittances, depositing remittances, entering/capturing data from returns, validating the taxpayer’s determination of tax, refunding overpayments and assuring proper accounting (including internal controls) and reporting of these transactions.

Each year, the division processes over 500,000 personal and 600,000 business tax returns and issues more than 280,000 tax refunds. In addition, the division’s computer staff is responsible for the design and administration of some of the most sophisticated and technically-advanced processing and imaging systems in the state. Delaware has been a national leader in applying technology to tax administration.

Tax enforcement includes examinations and audits (i.e., determinations of tax) and collection of delinquent accounts. The division’s enforcement responsibilities encompass 15 different revenue sources, including the state’s personal and corporate income taxes, gross receipts tax and realty transfer tax.

The division has aggressively pursued electronic filing methods for personal tax returns; consisting of Internet filing, electronic software filing, and barcoded paper filing. Electronic returns reduce mail and data entry processing, and as a result improve the refund issuance process and decrease seasonal and operating expenses.

State Lottery Office

Director, Helene Keeley

The mission of this agency is to maximize revenue contributions to the state’s General Fund, thereby helping to fund the delivery of governmental services to the people of Delaware:

• Through the marketing, sale and distribution of innovative, entertaining and secure lottery products that ensure the public’s confidence in the integrity of the games, retailers, agents and lottery operations; and
• By providing leadership and a corporate culture that encourages productive change leading to improvement in every aspect of the business.

Division of Accounting

Director, Kyle Pritchard

The mission of the division is to provide expert financial and technical accounting services for the State of Delaware, delivering central support to state organizations as well as consistent and reliable financial information to the public.

The division is responsible for preparing and issuing the State’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report in full compliance with Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement 34 and 35, which more closely aligns governmental financial statements with the ones found in private industry. Each fiscal year since 1995, the State has received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association.

The division also establishes and implements procedures and regulations pertaining to statewide accounting; processes and certifies the validity of transactions; and coordinates accounting and other financial matters with state agencies.

The division provides guidance to State organizations on how to properly administer payroll functions while incorporating effective internal controls and complying with applicable laws, rules and regulations.

In fulfillment of its mission, the division’s on-going initiatives have increased the efficiency of the state’s financial processes and continue to enhance the availability of information to its customers. The division is committed to reaching these goals through the application of technology. The division continuously works to eliminate obsolete, paper-based processes in favor of more efficient electronic alternatives.

Office of Unclaimed Property

Director, Brenda Mayrack

Unclaimed property consists of accounts and other financial instruments, usually intangible, being held at corporations, financial institutions, financial intermediaries, courts, and life insurance companies, that have gone dormant for a specified period of time based on property type.

Common types of unclaimed property include: checking and savings accounts, uncashed wage and payroll checks, uncashed stock dividends and stock certificates, insurance payments, utility deposits, customer deposits, accounts payable, credit balances, refund checks, money orders, traveler’s checks, mineral proceeds, court deposits, uncashed death benefit checks and life insurance proceeds. Unclaimed property does not include real estate or vehicles.

Unclaimed property laws began in the United States as a consumer protection program and they have evolved to protect not only the owners, but their heirs and estates as well. Once property is in the custody of the state and its unclaimed property program, the state will maintain custody of the property in perpetuity until the rightful owner or heirs come forward to claim.