Ms. Barker, CPA State and Local Tax (SALT) Director with Perkins & Co.
She has more than 20 years of experience in state and local taxes, including several years as a lead excise tax auditor with the Washington State Department of Revenue, and a B&O tax program auditor at the City of Kent. Prior to joining Perkins, Ms. Barker worked for BDO USA LLP for nine years, rising to the position of SALT Managing Director. There she spearheaded numerous projects related to multistate income/franchise and sales/use tax including research, state tax audit defense, nexus analysis, taxability determinations, mitigation and remediation, due diligence analysis, system implementation support, and ASC 450 analysis. Ms. Barker is regarded as an expert in Washington taxes, as well as other gross receipts and sales/use taxes. Her passion lies in working closely with clients and other service lines to ensure cohesive engagements and high-quality advice for clients. Ms. Barker is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants, the Institute for Professionals in Taxation and the Association of Washington Business Tax & Fiscal Policy Council.

Mr. Godfrey advises clients in Washington and Oregon on mitigating risk and managing pre-litigation situations, but also represents his clients in all levels of litigation including administrative hearings, jury trials, and appellate litigation. His practice includes state and federal employment defense matters including workers’ compensation, wrongful termination, ADA, wage and hour, OSHA/WISHA claims, and all other employment-related discrimination claims. He is admitted to practice in Oregon and Washington, U.S. District Court, and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Stigile specializes in tax controversies as well as business and international tax. Mr. Stigile’s representation includes federal and state tax controversy matters, including sensitive tax-related examinations and investigations for individuals, partnerships, limited liability companies, and corporations. His practice also includes complex civil tax examinations, administrative appeals and tax collection proceedings (where he is widely respected for achieving meaningful resolutions of difficult tax collection issues). Mr. Stigile has litigated cases in the U.S. Tax Court, the U.S. District Court, the Court of Federal Claims and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. He is a Certified Specialist, Taxation Law, The State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization. Mr. Stigile is also a CPA licensed in California. Prior to practicing as an attorney, he practiced in public accounting at KPMG LLP in federal taxation and then assurance. During law school, Mr. Stigile was a field placement intern with the IRS. He earned his JD degree from Emory University and his LL.M., Taxation, from New York University.

Ms. Sweeting is one of Geffen Mesher’s experts on State and Local Taxation (SALT). She started her career holding various tax positions at large, local companies in the forest products and high-tech industries. After a brief hiatus from the profession to stay home with her kids, Ms. Sweeting returned to public accounting and joined a Big 4 firm, where she first developed her SALT expertise. She joined Geffen Mesher in 2019; with her diverse background, Ms. Sweeting brings a well-rounded perspective to her clients’ situations. She enjoys working directly with clients to understand their businesses and help coach them through various SALT issues, as well as develop solutions that are best for each unique client. With a penchant for problem-solving, Ms. Sweeting enjoys analyzing each client’s particular business operations and solving the puzzle of how their activities intersect (and sometimes collide) with the continually transforming landscape of state taxation. Ms. Sweeting earned her Post Baccalaureate Accounting Certificate from Portland State University and her Graduate Certificate in SALT from Villanova University, Pennsylvania.

Mr.  Thorup is an Enrolled Agent and Oregon Licensed Tax Consultant with over 10 years of federal, state, and local tax experience. He has gained his expertise working at the Oregon Department of Revenue as both a personal income tax and corporate excise tax auditor, as well as working as a policy analyst for the corporate tax program when Oregon changed their corporate tax apportionment methodology to market-based sourcing in 2018. Since then, he has taken his skills to the City of Portland, Oregon, where he has been an integral part of their growth from local business tax administrator to a regional tax administrator. The Revenue Division of the City of Portland, Oregon administers several City programs (Arts Education and Access Tax, Business License Tax, Clean Energy Surcharge, Pay Ratio Surtax, Transient Lodgings Taxes) as well as other local taxes, like the Multnomah County business income tax and Preschool for All personal income tax and Metro’s Supportive Housing Services business and personal income taxes.