KUEHLE PLANS TO RETIRE AS COLLECTOR

Cape Girardeau County Collector Harold Kuehle has lots of plans for the future, but none of them involve collecting taxes.

Kuehle, who has served as county collector for more than three decades, plans to retire when his term ends Feb. 28, 1999.

By that time, he will have completed 32 years as the county's tax collector and 34 years in county office.

The 62-year-old Kuehle has been in office longer than any other current Cape Girardeau County officeholder.

But Kuehle, who successfully battled cancer within the past two years, said it is time to retire.

He was diagnosed with cancer to the lymph system in July 1996. He went through exhaustive chemotherapy. He has been free of cancer since January 1997.

Kuehle said his faith in God helped him through the ordeal.

Kuehle's wife, Peggy, works for County Auditor H. Weldon Macke. She plans to retire in July.

Kuehle has a collection of some 130 vintage cameras. He plans to devote more time to his collection in his retirement.

"I want to do some genealogy," he said. He also plans to attend a college bowl game and NASCAR races.

"I just like stock car races," he said.

Kuehle said he enjoyed both his job as collector and campaigning for office.

"I like to go out and meet people," said Kuehle.

Growing up in Cape Girardeau, Kuehle was always meeting people. His parents operated two truck stops.

He was elected public administrator in 1964. A Republican, Kuehle was elected to office in the same year that President Lyndon Johnson defeated GOP presidential candidate Barry Goldwater in a landslide.

Kuehle quickly found success in politics. He was elected collector in 1966. His term began on March 1, 1967.

Kuehle said he faced opposition only twice -- when he ran for county collector in 1966 and once since then -- in his re-election bids.

Kuehle lamented the cost of today's political campaigns.

He said a campaign for county office cost about $1,500 years ago. Today, candidates spend $10,000 or more on a single election.

Kuehle said he has enjoyed collecting taxes even though he often has heard the complaints of taxpayers.

But he understands taxpayers' gripes. "We are the last one they see when they pay their money," he said. "I learned real quick, it is not a personal thing."

Kuehle campaigned unsuccessfully for Missouri secretary of state in 1972, losing to Democratic incumbent James C. Kirkpatrick.

Kuehle said he was encouraged to run by John Danforth, who was then the state's attorney general and a rising star in the Republican Party.

Kuehle has been confined to a wheelchair since being paralyzed from the waist down, the result of a high school football accident.

Kuehle said voters didn't know quite what to make of a wheelchair-bound candidate for state office.

Back then, most buildings weren't accessible to the handicapped. Kuehle often had to use back entrances to restaurants and other buildings while on the campaign trail.

He flew around the state, making campaign stops at some airports where the restrooms weren't accessible to people in wheelchairs.

"It was quite an experience," he recalled.

Kuehle doesn't regret running for statewide office.

But he said that experience made him realize that he wanted to continue serving as county collector.

The GOP encouraged him to run for statewide office again, but he rejected the idea.

As Cape Girardeau County has grown, so has the office of county collector. He has seen the county grow from a second-class to a first-class county.

In his first year as collector, taxes totaled $3.25 million. In the current tax year, Kuehle's office has collected over $27 million.

At one time, the collector's office mailed out 28,000 tax bills. Today, the office sends out about twice that number.

Years ago, many of the tax calculations were done strictly by hand. Today, computers aid in the tax calculations.

When Kuehle was first elected collector, his office was in the county courthouse in Jackson. Initially, he had to be helped up the stairs to his second-floor office because the courthouse didn't have an elevator.

The county was in the process of installing an elevator when Kuehle was elected. The elevator began operating shortly after he took office.

Kuehle's and other county offices moved into new quarters in the County Administration Building in August 1987.

Kuehle said the workload has increased and so has the size of his staff. Many of his employees work part time.

"We are out of room," said Kuehle, glancing around the large office in the Cape Girardeau County Administration Building.

"We need somebody else here to process mail," he said. But he said there isn't any space available to house another employee.

As many as eight people work in the Jackson office. The Cape Girardeau office operates with a full-time employee and two part-time workers.

Thirty years ago, 60 to 65 percent of taxpayers paid their taxes in person. Today, only about 40 percent do so. Most people pay their taxes by mail, he said.

Kuehle credits his staff with helping to make the office run smoothly.

"I have been privileged to work with some really outstanding people," he said.