Treasurer’s Office approved for additional employee

MT. PLEASANT — After hearing Henry County Treasurer Kellie Sloan’s request to re-add a seventh position to her office at the end of August, the Henry County Board of Supervisors approved the addition at their regular meeting held Thursday, Sept. 5.

For 24 years seven employees, including the treasurer, have run the Henry County Treasurer’s Office, but currently functions with only six employees after not replacing an employee that retired over the last year.

“It is a rare privilege when a customer is not standing at our counter, so we may process mail and other internal duties,” Sloan said. “We are a customer-based office that has more to do than just wait on a customer at the counter. With seven employees when someone was absent, we managed to make it work with six people in the office, and someone is absent is become an uncomfortable atmosphere.”

Sloan expressed that driver’s license appointments can take significantly longer than people realizes as they include more than taking photos and processing paperwork, but also drive tests and written tests, among other duties. While it does mean more work for her office, Sloan stated that she felt the public would not appreciate removing the service.

Knowing House File 718 has caused a need for the county to make budget cuts, Sloan came to the Board of Supervisors with a plan to accommodate her office’s need for another employee.

According to Sloan the solution to pay for this employee comes from House File 674, which was signed into law May 8. This will bring in additional revenue through the treasurer’s office when it goes into effect Jan. 1, 2025.

“Currently, every time somebody transfers a vehicle, we charge a $25 fee, and then this county gets to keep $2.50 of every title we do,” Sloan explained. “For every lien that we do, which is $10, the county would get to keep $6 of every lien that we do. Every time we collect a use tax on any transaction, whether it be a $50,000 car or a $2,000 car, the county got to keep $1. So, these fees have been into effect since 1984. So, nothing has changed in the amount of money that the county gets to keep for doing this service for the D. O. T for 40 years.”

Supervisor Marc Lindeen specifically thanked Sloan for coming to them with a solution to her problem and the three-person board voted unanimously to allow Sloan to add a seventh employee to the treasurer’s office.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Kruse@southeastiowaunion.com