David McPherson is the Revenue & Tax Administrator for the City of Oakland and outgoing President of the California Municipal Revenue and Tax Association (CMRTA). CBJ interviewed Mr. McPherson about CMRTA’s recent Annual Conference, the highlights of his tenure as President and the passage of SB 211 and what it means for cities.

1. Congratulations on your tenure as President of CMRTA. What is your proudest achievement as President?

I have served on the CMRTA Board for over 21 years and served as State President three times. I have two proud achievements. First I changed the name of the Organization from California Municipal Business Tax Association (CMBTA) to California Municipal Revenue & Tax Association (CMRTA) to more accurately reflect all the various revenues our organization covers for local municipalities. Second, I created a website that our members could use as a powerful resource tool in order for them to have the most current information available to them as possible.

2. How has CMRTA grown over time and what are the greatest strengths of the organization?

This organization has grown in many ways from its professional networking to help each other with challenging issues to uniting as one to fight or support Legislative issues such as AB 63, SB1186, and SB 211 to just name a few.

3. CMRTA just had its Annual Conference with the theme “Changing with the Times”. What were the highlights of the conference and how is this theme relevant to tax and revenue professionals today?

These past few years have had a big impact on all our members with budget cuts, smart technology moving us faster than ever before and the cultural diversity we are beginning to see in California demographics which all are making us learn to begin “Changing with the Times.” This year conference had some great presenters which really touched on the three topics I just pointed out.

4. What are the highlights and accomplishments from this past year? What progress was made on issues important to CMRTA?

We accomplished many things this year. The first was the passage of SB 211 which extended many cities ability to continue exchanging data with the Franchise Tax Board. This program will allow cities the ability to identify non-compliant business and require them to obtain a business license. Another major accomplishment was that we were able to modernize our organizations By-Laws giving us more flexibility to raise revenues for the organization so that we can continue to fund special projects such as updating our website and expanding our training programs.

5. What’s next for David McPherson?

My duties as a Revenue & Tax Administrator for the City of Oakland have grown significantly and have taken me down many paths recently and it is my desire to continue developing my skills for the City to make it a better place for our citizens. I also have taken on the challenge to continue mentoring other colleagues entering this professional path so that we can develop the next generation of Revenue professionals in the years to come.