Wade Anderson Memorial Medal

Interstate Cooperation and the Promotion of Fairness, Simplicity, and Consistency

The first Wade Anderson Memorial Medal, presented to Elizabeth Harchenko in 2004.

This award honors Wade Anderson, who spent 30 years in a variety of positions with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and also served several more years as a tax attorney in the private sector. He was a founding member of the Border States Caucus of tax agencies in states along the U.S.-Mexico border and served as member of the boards of the Federation of Tax Administrators and the Multistate Tax Commission. In 1992 he was the winner of the FTA Award for Outstanding Service and Leadership. The Wade Anderson Memorial Medal was established after his death in 2003 to commemorate his tireless and creative efforts to promote interstate cooperation among tax agencies and between tax administrators and taxpayers.

The award is given to an individual who best exemplifies Wade’s commitment to interstate cooperation to promote fairness, simplicity and consistency in state tax administration.

2023 Recipient of the Wade Anderson Award

Vikki Smith – Washington State

Vikki Smith, 2023 Recipient of the Wade Anderson Award

Vikki Smith began her career with the Washington State Department of Revenue when she was 17 years old, and retired after 51 years, serving in her final role as director from 2015 to 2022. It will not be possible to highlight all the outstanding work Vikki achieved during her time at the department, but it all stems from her commitment to fairness, simplicity, and consistency in state tax administration, as well as a desire to share innovation and knowledge with others in the field of state taxation.

Early on, Vikki demonstrated the ability to build relationships through transparency and trust, and then collaborate to address challenges and create change through visionary efforts to make taxpayers true “customers” of the department. She led the agency’s first Taxpayer Services Division. Her leadership efforts resulted in—

• • Launch of the first state e-file system in the country.
  • Creation of a centralized, state-of-the art call center.
  • Education and outreach strategies to increase voluntary compliance.
  • Use of plain talk principles—a targeted education letter transformed with plain talk resulted in a tripled response rate and recognition from the Governor.
  • Use of videos to help educate taxpayers.

Vikki was a forerunner in establishing a national standard for providing customers an easy way to understand, file, and pay taxes.

She created the Customer Experience and Communications Division in 2017 to centralize and strengthen the agency’s focus on clear communication that puts the customer first.

Vikki founded the Business Advisory Council (BAC) in 2018. The 16-person council represents a broad range of Washington business stakeholders, who meet quarterly to discuss tax policy and operational issues.

Vikki was the driving force behind improving relations with the Tribes. In collaboration with tribal leaders, she reinstituted and reinvigorated regular Tribal Tax Advisory Group meetings with tribes. In 2020, she conceived and directed the creation of the Department’s Tribal Partnerships Program, allocating additional staff resources to tribal issues.

Over the years, Vikki supported state tax leaders through her service on boards, giving presentations and training, and sharing best practices—

• • Support of Western States Association of Tax Administrators (WSATA), including serving as president from 2020 until her retirement.
  • Support of Federal Tax Administrators (FTA) not only through her own participation but also by her support of other Revenue employees to participate in workshops, networking, and presentations at FTA events.
  • Support of Multistate Tax Commission (MTC) though her own leadership and her approval for the department’s direct participation in important MTC projects, like the ongoing Digital Products Taxation Work Group.
  • Partnering with The Hoops Institute of Taxation Research & Policy to offer the first-ever Washington State Tax Conference in 2019.
  • Support of revenue agencies across the nation: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Utah have all invited Vikki to visit and share her knowledge and insights.

Vikki led the way in modernizing an aging tax and business licensing system (2016 – 2018) and has ensured that Revenue’s strategic goals always included leveraging technology to promote innovation. Vikki was revered for her refined instinct and sound decision-making. These attributes afforded her a keen ability to be on the forefront of leading technologies.

The Washington State Department of Revenue earned 10 state and national awards during Vikki’s tenure as Director from 2015 – 2022. In addition, Vikki received the 2012 FTA Leadership & Service Award. These awards are just a glimpse into the value of Vikki’s unwavering commitment to fair and just tax administration.

Public service takes on a whole new spin with Vikki. She not only approached her civic duties with dignity and grace, but she approached her daily interactions the same way. From the micro-connections she developed as she passed folks in the hall, to the deep concern and conversations over someone’s health or family made Vikki that much more approachable, understandable, and admirable as a leader.

Vikki’s legacy as one of our state’s most dedicated public servants has since inspired the agency to revise one of the highest-honor awards given at Revenue. The new Vikki Smith Individual Excellence Award recognizes an employee who expertly performs their duties, uses customer feedback to make improvements, and goes above and beyond to make positive contributions to the agency. This is a person who lives by the agency’s values daily—integrity, cooperation, accountability, respect, and excellence. In short, this is the person who emulates Vikki’s shining example.

Through sincere leadership, Vikki has directly and indirectly created positive change for the people and businesses of Washington and beyond.

Past Recipients of the Wade Anderson Memorial Medal

From left to right: Bruce Johnson, Dan Bucks, Elizabeth Harchenko, and Ben Miller