The business of money — 9 questions for Wayne Wallingford, state revenue chief

Wayne Wallingford was appointed Dec. 29 by Gov. Mike Parson as director of the state Department of Revenue. A Republican, Wallingford had been serving as state representative for District 147 in the state House, covering the City of Cape Girardeau.

All told, Wallingford, 76, had more than 10 years' service in the state legislature. He had been an executive with both McDonald's and Taco Bell restaurants. His military service was as a combat navigator in the U.S. Air Force, and his tenure included wartime experiences in Vietnam.

He spoke last week to the Southeast Missourian about his current role as a member of Parson's cabinet.

When you took the job, you told this newspaper that the position was a "perfect fit." How do you feel now, nearly 10 months later?

I've been blessed so greatly. When I came (to DOR), I only knew one person who served with me in the Missouri House, and we were both also in the Air Force. But he was the only one I knew, and I wasn't sure how I'd be accepted because I knew the staff liked my predecessor, Ken Zellers, who is now commissioner of the state's Office of Administration. But (Zellers's) team accepted me and now it feels as if I've been here forever. I got a great start. The (DOR) staff set up an orientation for me, and the department here has over 1,100 employees — most of them in the Truman Building. They scheduled a time for me to go around and meet everyone, and it took four days to get finished. I like to know everyone's name.

You've got a breadth of experience — Air Force navigator with service in Southeast Asia, restaurant executive, veteran state legislator. Let's take the last one. Tell me about the transition from lawmaker to administrator of a large department in state government.

It wasn't much different from moving every three or four years in the service. You have to meet the people and learn the mission. When I worked for Taco Bell in Chicago, I had a five-state territory, and when the company sent me to Pennsylvania, I had 16 states. Transitioning to new organizations is a matter of getting to know the mission, the vision and all the people.

Speaking of vision, what is your vision at DOR now that you've been on the job close to a year?

When the governor introduced me as the new director, I said at the news conference that my focus was going to be customer service because that's what we do here. I've worked for two of the largest restaurant chains in the world, and we live or die by how we treat customers. In Cape Girardeau, for instance, you can get a hamburger anywhere. I used to ask my new McDonald's employees, "What do we sell here?" They always gave answers such as "hamburgers," "shakes" or "fries." No, no, I tell them, "We sell customer service." It's the same thing at the Department of Revenue. Of course, it's different here because state residents can't go anywhere else, but if they had a choice, I would hope they'd want to stick with DOR.

I always ask our staff at our Monday 9 a.m. meetings if they've heard any kudos. I want to hear about emails from people saying, "I can't believe this staff person went out of his way to help me." I try to call people personally when a complaint or concern requires my attention. I talked to somebody from Rolla the other day who had an issue. Before we hung up the phone, the man said if I ever got down his way to let him know and the two of us should go to lunch. I thought to myself, "Who would want to go out with the director of revenue?" Don't get me wrong. The staff handles most of these complaints and problems. One other example, the department got a call about identify theft on a Thursday night, about 8 o'clock, and he needed a problem straightened out by Monday morning. I'd only been here three months and it wasn't clear to me whether we could get it done in a day, but my team is so great, they got it wrapped up in time.

It seems your restaurant experience has really helped to guide your approach to the job as director, correct?

Yes, it has. Let me mention one more anecdotal example. I received an email that said great things about our team at DOR. The person told us our customer service is better than Chick-fil-A. That's exactly the kind of thing I love to hear.

Gov. Parson has proposed a large tax cut to take effect Jan. 1, which he calls historic in size — a reduction in the top individual income rate from 5.3% to 4.8% and increasing the standard deduction for individuals and married joint filers. (Editor's note: Last week, state senators voted 24-4 to approve a proposal to cut the top income tax rate from 5.3% to 4.95% beginning in 2023.) As a revenue director, responsible for collecting tax money from citizens, did the governor's plan give you a twinge of apprehension?

No, no, I love tax cuts. I'm all for it. Tax cuts mean we're going in the right direction. We're at a good moment now with a surplus and revenue up between 20% to 23%. But you have to be careful when you do a tax cut because we know there will be bad years sometime in the future; that's the nature of the economy, with ups and downs and recessions. The last thing we want to do is a tax cut today and have to raise taxes tomorrow; that doesn't make any sense. The governor's been careful not to go so far that it's going to hurt Missouri down the road.

Motor fuel tax refunds are being handled by your department. How many people have taken the time to file for the refund?

We've got 9,978 claims thus far and the current refund cycle ends Sept. 30; the average refund per person has been $22.55. Currently, the total amount of refund money requested is $236,887.54.

How has your schedule changed now that you are one of 16 department heads in state government?

I get home to Cape Fridays at midnight. I have all day Saturday at home. On Sundays, my wife and I go to church and then it's time to head back to Jeff City. I usually get back to my place in the capital around 4 p.m. Sunday.

Would you tell us about your health? You had a kidney transplant a couple of years ago.

It was November 2020, yes. I guess before I had the transplant, people saw me with a pale complexion and thought I wasn't doing well. But I feel wonderful now and people tell me I look great. I've been blessed with energy and enthusiasm in my life. I don't know how long an average kidney lasts, but I have a lot more time now that I might have had.

Is there anything you want to tell Missourians before we wrap up?

Yes, Real ID is coming. If people want it, it'll be in effect May 3 and you'll need it if you want to fly. If you have a passport and want to take a flight, you won't need it to get on an airplane. But I have both Real ID and a passport, just to be on the safe side.

One thing I saw in your newspaper was a poll that the Southeast Missourian regularly takes of its readers. I love those surveys, by the way. I recall the question in a Weekend edition asking, "Do you plan to get Real ID?" The plurality of respondents, about 40%, answered "yes." What bothered me was about 5%, and I'm not certain of the exact number, who responded, "What's Real ID?" Every chance I get, I remind people of Real ID, and if they want to get it, what the deadline is should you want to fly.

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