Barca
MADISON — Wisconsin Department of Revenue Secretary Peter Barca will soon be leaving his post after serving the state’s administration for more than five years, according to an announcement from Gov. Tony Evers’ office.
“Peter has been with our administration since day one, and I knew from the beginning that he would be a dedicated, enthusiastic, and effective leader for the Department of Revenue,” said Evers Thursday in a news release. “We’ve accomplished much together over the past five years on behalf of the people of Wisconsin, including ensuring Wisconsin taxpayers will see $1.5 billion in tax relief annually through income tax cuts I’ve signed into law. I thank Peter for service and wish him and his family all the best.”
Barca, a Kenosha native, was one of Evers’ first appointments to his cabinet in 2019. Barca will officially exit April 9, according the announcement issued by the administration.
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“I have been honored to be a member of the Evers Administration in such a key time for the state,” Barca said. “The leadership and staff at DOR are dedicated, effective, and highly engaged. In addition to the tax relief, historic changes in shared revenue, our team administered most of the large grant programs and were pleased to be part of the Evers team that was number one in the nation in distributing federal funds to help businesses, farms, and organizations.
“It was especially positive to end this legislative session with important public safety measures like new vapor controls and using the tax system to facilitate organ donations,” Barca said.
In 2023, the department stopped $305 million in fraudulent income tax refunds, returned $38.8 million in unclaimed property, distributed over $2.4 billion to local governments in shared revenue and property tax relief, and the lottery achieved record sales of $981.6 million, over 30 percent of which is typically returned to homeowners in the form of a property tax credit, according to the administration.
In addition, the department’s average processing time for individual income tax returns was fewer than five days in 2023, and the tax revenue forecast error was 1.5 percent with an eight-month time horizon, which is within the department’s 2% objective. This is based on Wisconsin’s history as the best tax forecasting state in the country.
In addition to his service as secretary, Barca was as a state legislator from 1985 to 1993 and from 2009 to 2019, representing the Kenosha area. He served for seven years as the assembly minority leader, passing a wide range of bills and working to improve and strengthen the legislative process. He also was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served in the U.S. Congress from 1993 to 1995.
Following his time in the U.S. Congress, Barca served for nearly five years as the Midwest Regional Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration during the Clinton Administration. He also was appointed to lead the National Regulatory Fairness Program, an initiative aimed at making regulatory enforcement more small business friendly. Barca later spent nearly a decade as vice president and then president of Aurora Associates International, an international project management company that conducted international development projects in more than 25 countries. He had previously served as CEO of a non-profit organization focused on employment and training, housing and rehabilitation services.
A search to fill the secretary’s position is currently underway and the governor expects to announce Barca’s replacement in the coming weeks.