New Leaders at Top Treasury Posts Overseeing Federal Collections

Two high-level Treasury Department appointments were announced last week in positions that directly impact collectors working on federal collection contracts.

The White House announced Wednesday that it will formally nominate Douglas Shulman to replace former IRS Commissioner Mark Everson, who left the agency in April to take a position at the Red Cross. Linda Stiff, deputy IRS commissioner for services and enforcement, has been serving as acting commissioner. Shulman is currently vice chairman of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which was previously known as the National Association of Securities Dealers. 

Everson was instrumental in getting the IRS private debt collection initiative off the ground in 2004, and has been a strong proponent of the program (“IRS Defends its Hiring of Debt-Collection Firms,” March 21).

In another move that figures to have more direct impact on federal collections, Henry Paulson, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, appointed Judith Tillman commissioner of the Treasury’s Financial Management Service. FMS serves as the government’s “banker” and is responsible for payments and debt collection. FMS processes some $2.6 trillion in federal revenues and collects $3.5 billion in delinquent debt on a yearly basis, much of it through private debt collectors. 

FMS handles all federal debt collection contracts through the U.S. General Services Administration’s schedule 520-4. Collection agencies that qualify for the GSA 520-4 schedule are eligible to bid on contracts for all Treasury debt, such as the Department of Education and IRS collection contracts. 

Tillman replaces Kenneth Papaj, a 34-year veteran of the Treasury Department who is retiring. According to Federal Computer Week, Papaj was a key figure in modernizing federal disbursements, revenue collections, central accounting, debt collection and the regulation of government securities in several key executive positions he held over the past 20 years. 

Tillman, also a 34-year Treasury veteran, has most recently served as the deputy commissioner of FMS. Her appointment will go into effect January 4.