Decisions/2025-438
Report2025-438

Should Portland reappoint Sean Wallace and appoint Penny Sweeting to the Revenue Division Appeals Board?

The three-year Board position held by Sean Wallace expires December 31, 2025. Sean has agreed to be reappointed to the Board. Board positions are appointed by the Mayor. If appointed, Sean’s next three-year term will expire on December 31, 2028.The two-year Board position held by Brian Miller expires on December 31, 2025. Brian Miller has declined to serve another term. Board positions are appointed by the Mayor. Penny Sweeting has agreed to be appointed to this position. If appointed Penny Sweeting’s two-year term will expire on December 31, 2027. Portland City Code section 7.02.295 C requires that appointments to the Board be made to provide an appropriate level of expertise in accounting methods and tax regulations. These appointees meet the qualifications required by the code and should serve both the public and the City of Portland well in any matters coming before the Board.

Official impact statement
See the official legal title

Reappoint Sean Wallace and appoint Penny Sweeting to the Revenue Division Appeals Board

Next appearanceFinal action is posted; watch for implementation updates.
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01 · Understand it

What this proposal would actually do.

Plain-language orientation first. Every substantive statement below links to its official basis.

What would change

The three-year Board position held by Sean Wallace expires December 31, 2025. Sean has agreed to be reappointed to the Board. Board positions are appointed by the Mayor. If appointed, Sean’s next three-year term will expire on December 31, 2028.The two-year Board position held by Brian Miller expires on December 31, 2025. Brian Miller has declined to serve another term. Board positions are appointed by the Mayor. Penny Sweeting has agreed to be appointed to this position. If appointed Penny Sweeting’s two-year term will expire on December 31, 2027. Portland City Code section 7.02.295 C requires that appointments to the Board be made to provide an appropriate level of expertise in accounting methods and tax regulations. These appointees meet the qualifications required by the code and should serve both the public and the City of Portland well in any matters coming before the Board.

Official proposal and impact statement
What would stay the same

The reviewed sources do not clearly identify every existing policy, service, contract, or obligation that would remain unchanged.

Official matter record
Who may be affected

The Board’s decisions only apply to the specific facts and circumstances of individual tax-payers so their decisions are minimally impactful to the community as a whole. Outreach has been narrowly targeted due to the unique qualifications of the Board members (strong expertise in federal, state and local tax laws).

Official community impact statement
What happens next

Accepted

Latest official agenda appearance
02 · Evaluate it

What the record establishes and what it does not.

Votes show choices. They do not, by themselves, prove why a member made that choice.

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Open questions
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  • What implementation evidence will show whether the intended result occurred?
Can residents still participate?

Official testimony on this decision has closed. Residents can still contact their district Councilors about implementation and follow-up.

Official Council agenda
03 · Verify it

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Official text, source files, exact motions, roll calls, provenance, and the technical completeness check remain available without crowding the explanation above.

Official documents1 sources
Final legal actionReport 2025-438

The operative official record after Council action.

Open at Portland.gov
Read the full official text

TO THE COUNCIL: As Mayor, I request Council confirmation of the following appointments to the Revenue Division Appeals Board.ReappointmentTermSean Wallace1/1/2026 – 12/31/2028AppointmentTermReplacingPenny Sweeting1/1/2026 – 12/31/2027Brian MillerRespectfully submitted, Keith Wilson,MayorSean WallaceBiography Sean Wallace is a Tax Shareholder at Perkins & Co with a focus on closely held businesses and their owners. His practice area primarily focuses on helping companies navigate income tax compliance and planning in multijurisdictional tax environments. Sean first joined Perkins & Co in 2008 and rejoined the firm in 2011. He holds Bachelor degrees from the University of Oregon’s College of Arts and Sciences as well as the College of Business. He has been a licensed CPA in Oregon since 2010.Interest Statement I am interested in a reappointment to the Board to continue supporting the efforts of CPAs nationwide to accurately interpret and apply tax laws, rules, and regulations. I believe my experience working over 15 years as a practitioner in our local communities gives me helpful historical context in this role. It offers me a breadth of knowledge earned through doing that guides a practical and insightful approach to resolution of often difficult to understand tax rules and regulations. I look forward to supporting the efforts of taxpayers, and Multnomah County, in arriving at accurate tax positions by helping to interpret the tax laws and rules of our local tax jurisdictions.Penny SweetingBiography I have been a certified public accountant in Oregon since 2001. In the last 15 years, I have specialized in state and local taxes which has allowed me to work closely with taxpayers as well as the Revenue Division. I am currently working with a national firm called Withum Smith + Brown in the Portland office and have worked at several local public accounting firms including Deloitte, Geffen Mesher, Perkins and KBF. In my role as a SALT specialist, I was able to attend rules committee meetings for the Multnomah County PFA tax and Metro work sessions. I am a long-time member of the Oregon Society of CPA’s in good standing and have served on a number of committees including the Taxation Strategic Committee (member, past co-chair and past chair) and the State and Local Tax Conference Committee (member). My education started at Hawaii Pacific University and then I earned a Post-Bac Certificate in Accounting from Portland State University. Most recently I earned a Graduate Certificate in State and Local Tax from Villanova University (Pennsylvania).Interest Statement I am looking forward to serving on the appeals board to provide the opportunity to use my knowledge and experience of taxes to assist taxpayers with appeals. I understand the importance of having a forum for taxpayers to appeal decisions and resolve disputes. Being part of the appeals board will also offer the opportunity to work alongside other professionals who have a passion for Portland. It would be an honor that I would take seriously and complete my responsibilities with highest standards.

Meetings, motions, amendments, and votes2 meetings · 2 votes
Read all 2 exact motions
Dec 3, 2025 · Main · Recorded

Motion to accept the report: Moved by Kanal and seconded by Green.

Nov 10, 2025 · Main · Recorded

Motion to refer the Report, Document Number 2025-438, to City Council with the recommendation it be accepted: Moved by Pirtle-Guiney and seconded by Green. (Aye (4): Green, Pirtle-Guiney, Novick, Zimmerman; Absent (1): Avalos)

Final Council action · Dec 3, 202510 yes · 0 no · 2 absent

Final action on 2025-438: Reappoint Sean Wallace and appoint Penny Sweeting to the Revenue Division Appeals Board

Meeting-level motion or recommendation · Nov 10, 20254 yes · 1 absent

Motion to refer the Report, Document Number 2025-438, to City Council with the recommendation it be accepted: Moved by Pirtle-Guiney and seconded by Green. (Aye (4): Green, Pirtle-Guiney, Novick, Zimmerman; Absent (1): Avalos)

Data quality, timeline, and provenanceRules v2
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Unreviewed keyword matches and machine-extracted fragments are not presented as authoritative findings. Only 0 human-reviewed findings are available for this matter.

Technical information-completeness check · Ready With Caveats

This checks whether decision-relevant categories appear in the published packet. It does not recommend approval or opposition.

Decision definition

The official title and operative text identify the requested action.

Complete
Official legal text

Official text was found. This check does not certify that every referenced exhibit is complete.

Complete
Financial impact

The official impact statement includes financial information.

Complete
Funding source

The impact statement identifies funding information without an explicit unresolved-source qualifier.

Complete
Supporting documents

No linked attachments were found on the official page.

Unknown
Referenced exhibit integrity

No explicit exhibit reference was detected in the official text.

Not Applicable
Counterparty acceptance

The reviewed action is not expressly identified as a non-binding agreement.

Not Applicable
Implementation

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Unknown
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Source record
First discovered
Aug 13, 2026, 1:09 PM PDT
Last checked
Sep 13, 2026, 2:28 AM PDT
Evidence hash
94ecbbc12d78690a
Guide status
Deterministic baseline
Append-only timeline
  1. SOURCE UPDATED

    Accepted

  2. DOCUMENT PUBLISHED

    Observed in the official source.

  3. Council Action

    Confirmed

  4. Council Action

    Referred to City Council