Treasurer's role unlikely to change

JACKSON, Mo. -- For 21 years, Bill Reynolds has kept to a routine, coming into the office, picking up canceled checks from the bank and keeping track of the money as Cape Girardeau County's treasurer.

It's a job of ledgers and bank accounts that typically receives little public attention. But that's changed since Reynolds earlier this month said he was underpaid at a salary of $42,458 a year and urged his fellow county officeholders to boost his pay. They rejected the idea.

With the collector's and auditor's offices already handling many of the duties of receiving, budgeting and spending tax dollars, some question the need for Reynolds' job.

Two of his fellow officeholders, Auditor H. Weldon Macke and Collector Diane Diebold, say the county could manage without a treasurer. Both agree the tax collector's office could handle the treasurer's duties, but that's not likely to happen because of statutory restrictions and politics.

Macke said the county could benefit from having a finance office like cities do, but state law spells out that most counties, including Cape Girardeau, must have separate elected offices for the collector, treasurer and auditor.

Some of Missouri's larger counties legally can abolish elected positions such as treasurer, but only if they draw up charters restructuring their governments and secure approval from the local voters.

That's not likely to happen here, Diebold said.

"It is really hard to make changes," she said.

Diebold said creating an all-inclusive finance department may not even save money, depending on the staffing. For example, her office would need extra help to take on the treasurer's duties.

There's also the issue of whether the auditor's office should become part of a county finance department.

Macke said it makes sense to have an elected auditor, separate from the collector's or treasurer's office. "It wouldn't be practical to audit ourselves," he said. "The auditor's position is a watchdog position."

Macke has served as county auditor for more than three decades and has seen how county treasurers operate. Many county treasurers spend few hours on the job, he said.

"In most cases, they come in monthly to get their paychecks and let some secretary run the office," Macke said.

He said that isn't the case with Reynolds.

Not an afterthought

Reynolds, 72, shows up for work Monday through Friday just like other officeholders.

He and his secretary occupy a small corner office at the end of a third-floor hallway in the county administrative building in Jackson. But Reynolds insists his office isn't an afterthought or unnecessary. He views it as a full-time job even if others don't.

"I have to go to the bank and pick up canceled checks every day," said Reynolds, a one-time local sports broadcaster and former owner of a Cape Girardeau clothing store. "We reconcile canceled checks on a daily basis."

The thousands of checks issued by the county are run through a check-signing machine that occupies a prominent place in his office. It is right next to his desk, where he keeps a collection of coins under glass, including 16 of the newly minted state quarters, a 1935 quarter and two Canadian dimes.

His secretary sees that the various financial records are entered into the county's computer system.

Reynolds said he and his secretary keep track of six bank accounts and 40 different internal accounts. The money is kept at Firstar Bank.

Reynolds said the county has close to $4 million in its checking accounts. Another $7 million is invested in government-backed securities earning 3.5 to 5.5 percent interest.

He said he plans to retire when his current term ends in three years, but talk of his departure hasn't sparked public interest in eliminating the treasurer position and adopting a charter government.

First-class counties can eliminate many of the traditional elected offices if local voters adopt charters establishing the policies and procedures of such governments.

Missouri has 16 counties that have first-class-structured governments, a status that requires a county to have at least $450 million in assessed valuation. Three of those -- Jackson, St. Louis and St. Charles counties -- operate under charters that eliminated many of the traditional elected offices.

Those counties have different elected positions, principally a county council and chief executive, said Dick Burke, executive director of the Missouri Association of Counties.

But Burke said few of Missouri's first-class counties have shown any interest in home rule.

In the past 16 years, only St. Charles County has gone to a charter government. Boone County voters overwhelmingly rejected the idea when it was put on a ballot there.

Burke and Macke said little has changed on the issue over the years. State lawmakers aren't likely to support any legislation that would change the current structure of county government.

Said Burke, "It is just too hot politically."

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123