December 29, 2006, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue discovered it had made a huge blunder. It mailed out about 170-thousand income tax forms to taxpayers with their Social Security numbers printed on the address labels for anyone to see. I know this first hand because I was one of those unfortunate 170-thousand taxpayers.
It was the Department of Revenue’s error, but unfortunately,
you, the taxpayers, will have to suffer. The incredible mistake came under the watch of then-Department of Revenue Secretary Mike Morgan. In the private sector, such an outrageous mistake is not tolerated. In the world of Governor Jim Doyle, it calls for a promotion.
Just a few days after the Department of Revenue’s major mistake, Revenue Secretary Mike Morgan was promoted to Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Administration on January 1, 2007. The person responsible for one state agency, the Department of Revenue and release of 170-thousand social security numbers, is now responsible for all state agencies.
Incredible.
Here is a letter dated January 5, 2007, I received from Deputy DOR Secretary Laura Engan after I and other senators wrote to the DOR, asking for an explanation. Engan offers an apology, information about the Social Security numbers on mailings, and the steps the department is taking to prevent a similar mistake in the future. Engan writes that letters to all affected taxpayers were to go out the week of January 8, 2007. I am told the letters were mailed January 19, 2007. I am still waiting to receive my letter in the U.S. mail.
