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Commissioner Stark, the first African-American woman to serve as Finance Commissioner, also serves as chair of the New York City Employees’ Retirement System and the Teachers’ Retirement System.
Since her appointment on February 11, 2002, Commissioner Stark has sought to transform Finance into a more efficient and transparent organization that produces results that matter to the public. She implemented an agency-wide performance management system that enables Finance to measure those results, use data to make decisions, and gather regular feedback from customers and employees. In doing so, she is building a culture of continuous learning and innovation.
Under her leadership, Finance has improved many of its public services, such as reducing wait times for the agency’s helpline, document recording and parking ticket hearings, and reducing returns on agency mailings. In addition, Commissioner Stark has made Department of Finance rules and procedures more transparent.
Major accomplishments include reforming the property valuation process; simplifying the property tax billing process; administering a successful business tax amnesty program; administering the $400 property tax rebate; and launching a program to expand banking services in underserved neighborhoods.
Commissioner Stark's successful tenure builds on work she began at Finance from 1990-1993, when she held several senior management positions under Mayor David N. Dinkins. As Acting Director of the Conciliations Bureau, Ms. Stark established the unit that mediates business tax disputes. As an Assistant Commissioner, she managed the team responsible for answering taxpayer questions, and led the Department's effort to educate the public and elected officials about the City's complex tax issues. She also was responsible for a comprehensive analysis of the City's real property tax structure.
Ms. Stark served as a White House Fellow in 1993, assigned to the U.S. Department of State, and later as Director and Deputy Counsel for Policy and Development in the Manhattan Borough President's Office.
Ms. Stark consulted on "The Orphaned Capitol," an influential Brookings Institution study which recommended ways to restore the District of Columbia's fiscal health. In 1998, she co-authored a study for the New York University School of Law that analyzed the high cost of building and renovating housing in New York City and other major U.S. cities.
Ms. Stark has written extensively about the New York City property tax, and has taught budget and finance courses at Hunter College and business law at Baruch College of the City University of New York.
Prior to her appointment as Commissioner, Ms. Stark was a Portfolio Manager at the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, where she managed millions of dollars in youth development grants.
Ms. Stark earned her bachelor's and law degrees from New York University, where she captained the varsity basketball team. She lives in Brooklyn, where she grew up and attended public high school.
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