Monte Williams

Monte Williams has a Bachelor of Science Degree with a specialization in accounting from the California State University, Sacramento.  Mr. Williams worked for the California Board of Equalization for nearly 30 years.  Mr. Williams was appointed as the first Chief of the Investigations Division for the Board of Equalization in January 1999.  This division is responsible for investigating all criminal tax evasion for the tax programs administered by the Board of Equalization.  Mr. Williams established the Investigations Division from three separate investigative units within two different departments in the Board of Equalization.  Mr. Williams’ was responsible for establishing all procedures and processes for the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases.  During his tenure as Chief of the Investigation Division he was responsible for the successful prosecution of many criminal cases resulting the millions of dollars in assessments.  

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Williams was appointed the first Chief of the Excise Taxes Division.  As Chief of the Excise Taxes Division Mr. Williams was responsible for seven statewide tax programs which collected $2.1 billion in state revenue.  Mr. Williams has been involved with the administration, collection and auditing of taxes on cigarettes and tobacco products and investigating fraud in these areas for nearly 20 years.  His final job for the Board of Equalization was to develop and implement the new, technologically advanced, cigarette tax stamp which is currently in use in California. 

Mr. Williams is a past Chair of the Federation of Tax Administrators, Tobacco Tax Section and served on its Executive Committee for many years.  He also served on the State Administrators/Manufacturer Committee.  This committee was established to find and alternative to the current tax stamps all states were using at the time.  This project resulted in a new and alternative method of stamping cigarettes for tax purposes.  Mr. Williams also received the Federation of Tax Administrators, Tobacco Tax Section 2002 Award for Excellence

Mr. Williams retired from state service in November 2005.  Upon his retirement he became one of the founding partners in the firm of Shepherd, Williams and Associates, LLC.