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Richard A. Levin was appointed Ohio Tax Commissioner by Governor Ted Strickland in January 2007. He is the 17th tax commissioner to lead the Ohio Department of Taxation.
Levin leads an agency of close to 1,400 employees dedicated to the administration and enforcement of state and local taxes, including the state income tax, state and local sales taxes and several excise and business taxes. All told, these taxes provide more than $25 billion in annual state and local revenue to fund Ohio’s schools and colleges, Medicaid, law enforcement, transportation, and other public services.
Levin oversees the department as it implements one of the most comprehensive packages of tax reforms in state history. Ohio’s two largest business taxes have gradually been phased out in favor of a new commercial activity tax with a low rate and a broad base, and state income rates are gradually falling by 21 percent. Levin has also overseen a dramatic expansion of the homestead exemption property tax relief program to virtually all senior citizen homeowners.
Levin has over 38 years experience in tax policy encompassing both the public and private sectors. He got his start in 1971 as a researcher with Department of Taxation. In 1975, he was promoted to research director and in 1983 he was promoted again to deputy tax commissioner for policy, a position he held until 1991. From 1991 until he re-joined the department in 2007, Levin was a partner in a Columbus, Ohio consulting firm specializing in state and local fiscal policy and research.
Levin was elected city auditor of Bexley, Ohio, and served in that position from 1998 through 2001. He has also taught graduate seminars in budget policy and fiscal administration at The Ohio State University, introductory economics at Franklin University and taught a seminar in state and local tax policy at Capital University School of Law.
Levin earned a Masters of Arts degree in Economics from The Ohio State University in 1970. He also holds a Bachelor of Science from the university’s College of Business. In 2009, The Ohio State University Alumni Association presented Levin with its distinguished public service award.
