Director of Richmond’s finance department resigns following several mishaps

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Following a string of mishaps within Richmond's Department of Finance, its director has resigned.

On Thursday, July 10, a city spokesperson confirmed that Sheila White, the leader of Richmond's finance department, had tendered her resignation.

White first began working for Richmond in 2020. She became the Department of Finance's director just over four years ago, in 2021.

An explanation for White's choice to leave her role was not provided.

White is not the first top city official to either vacate their role or be fired in recent months. She's also not the first leading Department of Finance employee to resign this year.

Then-director of Revenue Administration Jamie Atkinson resigned in April after errors with the tax rebate check process impacted nearly 60,000 residents.

That faulty tax rebate check process is just one of multiple controversies the department saw in just a short period.

MORE: ‘It needs to get fixed,' Lack of protocols led to tax rebate check fumble

In addition to the large-scale tax rebate check issue, a "system error" caused real estate tax bills to be sent to the wrong payees and a "software issue" resulted in hundreds incorrectly receiving personal property tax bills.

8News also investigated a Richmond resident's erroneous property tax assessment in April after he received a bill nearly $30,000 higher than expected.

White's last day will be Friday, July 25.