Gov. Nathan Deal has tapped a key Republican supporter as the new head of the Department of Revenue.
Deal announced Friday that state Rep. Lynne Riley, R-Johns Creek, will succeed Doug MacGinnitie as the commissioner of the tax agency. Riley was a Deal loyalist who was one of his chief supporters in the statehouse and spent considerable time stumping for him on the campaign trail.
The governor said in a statement that Riley's three decades of accounting experience and stint on the House's tax-writing committee factored into his decision.
She will inherit one of the thornier problems under the Gold Dome. Deal in 2013 sold a salvage yard he co-owned to Texas-based Copart, a firm that is locked in a dispute with the state over as much as $74 million in back taxes.
Deal placed his assets in a blind trust and said he had no knowledge of Copart's tax woes, and has called for the tax dispute to be resolved by an independent judge. But Democrats have criticized the sale and accused Deal of doing business with a "tax cheat."
It is the first in what's likely a flurry of changes in Deal's administration following his convincing election victory. There will be at least one constant: His top aide, Chris Riley (no relation to Lynne), is expected to stay put.
Lynne Riley's appointment, announced just three days after the election, is effective Jan. 11. It means that her House seat - a solidly Republican north Fulton district - is up for grabs. There's no word yet on when a special election will be scheduled.
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