Pennsylvania Treasury modernizes tax appeals governance and compliance with Hyland OnBase™

Industry: Government
Location: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Organization size: 135 employees
Hyland solutions: Hyland OnBase™

Pennsylvania Treasury modernized its second-level tax appeals process to strengthen governance, compliance and transparency for the Pennsylvania Board of Finance and Revenue (BF&R), which hears about 2,500 appeals annually. Because cases involve sensitive taxpayer financial data and legally binding outcomes, Pennsylvania Treasury needed a secure, auditable system that enforces rigorous controls while enabling efficient operations.

The need for modernization intensified with the passage of Act 123 of 2024, which took effect on January 27, 2025, and expanded taxpayer rights by allowing no‑cost mediated settlements for eligible appeals. This new environment created an opportunity for the BF&R to strengthen service, consistency and transparency by moving to a purpose-built, governed approach to managing appeals. At the time, BF&R relied on SharePoint for document storage and collaboration, which supported basic file sharing but was not optimized for a regulated adjudication process.

Case information and metadata were not consistently standardized, making it harder to quickly locate documents, produce accurate reporting and demonstrate audit readiness. Teams also spent significant time manually drafting briefs and orders, managing communications and tracking milestones across systems — work that could be streamlined through automation and approved templates. BF&R sought a modern foundation that would centralize case history, improve end-to-end visibility and apply role-based access in a way that protects sensitive taxpayer information while enabling faster, more reliable responses to audits, legal discovery and right-to-know requests.

Pennsylvania Treasury launched a comprehensive BF&R modernization initiative using OnBase — re-engineering the appeals process around structured data, automated workflows and built-in governance. With OnBase WorkView and Workflow, Pennsylvania Treasury replaced an unstructured file repository with a purpose-built, fully governed case management environment. Every document, action, status change and communication is now captured in a nonrepudiable audit trail that supports stringent legal and regulatory requirements. Automated document composition generates briefs and orders using standardized, approved language — reducing manual effort and minimizing the risk of errors. Workflow-driven communications automate email delivery while enforcing role-based access controls, so sensitive information is shared only with authorized stakeholders.

Since going live, nearly 2,000 briefs and orders have been generated automatically with 100% accuracy, eliminating manual drafting errors and saving an estimated 1,000 staff hours. The system has also dispatched 5,800 automated emails — more than doubling prior monthly volume — while ensuring every message was delivered correctly, returning approximately 967 staff hours to higher-value work. In addition, 2,750 petitions have been processed through a governed workflow, with complete case histories available on demand for audits, regulatory reviews and legal proceedings.

Pennsylvania Treasury views OnBase as a long-term governance solution, not a one-time project. Phase 3 will further extend compliance and transparency with AI-powered full-text search, automated redaction to advance a Privacy by Design model, mediated settlement integration and a secure API-based connection with the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Together, these enhancements support a fully governed, end-to-end appeals ecosystem that strengthens compliance, improves responsiveness and reinforces public trust.