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Tracy Kennedy Desmond
Bringing in the bucks,
keeping them safe
By Marvin H. Stuart
special for the sierra star
Treasurer-Tax Collector Tracy Kennedy Desmond wants to be certain taxpayers have a reserved space in front of the Madera County Government Center when the deadline apporaches for payment. She installs this sign during that period. |
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MADERA - Tracy Kennedy Desmond, Madera County treasurer-tax collector, has two functions.
First, as county treasurer, she is the recipient of all funds collected by the county, or paid into the county treasury by state and federal agencies.
"This includes everything from fees for dog licenses, and timber sales, sales taxes and highway-user taxes to funds for running the schools, the jails, the courts, the welfare system, and all the special districts and service areas, says Ms. Desmond.
All this amounts to, conservatively, $150 million a year.
Her second duty is the collection of all county property taxes.
All of these funds, including those for the school districts, are deposited, invested, and monitored by her office, bound by strict parameters enforced by the state.
Ms. Desmond explains the money is invested in $1 million and $2 million blocks, and she pointed out two huge boxes which contained state legislation regulating her office's investment of these funds.
"The foremost concern is safety, says Ms. Desmond, "but also considered are liquidity and yield.
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She went on to explain that "Time is also critical, since these accounts should mature on a schedule that coincides with the cash outlays of each county department - payroll and welfare being two of the most critical accounts.
"We have to be sure there are sufficient funds available to cover the checks the various county departments write throughout the year, while attempting to get the best possible return on our invested funds, she adds.
"There are about 40 individual government departments in addition to the entire school system that are involved in this equation, says Ms. Desmond.
She says the largest blocks of money are deposited with federal loan agencies "like Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae, as well as in treasury bills. The highest yields are with federal agencies that offer "callable instruments. She says that although these investments yield higher rates of return, the government can call them in at their discretion, and are therefore riskier investments for the county.
This matter of safety for funds invested by the county, says the treasurer-tax collector, accounts for the strict state regulation imposed on county government. In the wake of the bankruptcy experienced recently by Orange County, "A veritable deluge of new regulations were introduced.
Although Orange County did not do anything illegal at the time, it purchased financial instruments and then borrowed money using them as collateral. "They then purchased more financial instruments, which allowed them to use the additional instruments as collateral
against even more loans, Ms. Desmond explains. "All this in anticipation of rising interest rates - and when interest rates fell, they did too.
The rash of state regulations preventing this from happening again was "immediate and plentiful, the treasurer-tax collector adds. "The evidence is in our storage room.
The second function for Ms. Desmond is that of tax collector. In this job she belies the cartoon image of the black-hat, black-cape, and flowing moustache personification of the "evil tax collector, as portrayed in comic strips and kids' cartoons.
This petite and vivacious lady, who graduated from Sierra High School and Fresno State also does team roping at the Coarsegold Rodeo - she was nursing a bruised leg at the time of her interview - manages to keep her sense of humor while she collects all the property taxes, businesses taxes and fees due the county.
She accepts the cash along with occasional written comments - almost all of them negative.
"The best ones get posted on the walls to prevent me or any of our employees from losing perspective on ourselves or our jobs, says Ms. Desmond. She adds that no matter how irate or irrational a taxpayer might get, the entire office "must be gracious and show understanding.
"After all, she adds, "everyone knows that when the news is bad, it's the messenger who gets blamed - and we're the messenger!
Her office collects about $60 million annually in property taxes. These are made up of three categories of taxation: secured, unsecured, and supplemental.
"Secured are those she described as "for houses and the dirt they sit on.
"Unsecured include taxes on boats, planes, or businesses.
"Supplemental includes taxes received when property changes ownership.
Ms. Desmond acknowledges that she and her office are perceived by the public as being responsible for taking their hard-earned money and therefore they bear the burden of incurring the wrath of irate taxpayers.
She initiated "free parking in front of the Madera County Government Center when individual tax payments are due. The week before the cutoff date for paying those taxes is April 10 and December 10, so parking is always available in clearly-marked curbside spots for persons who prefer to pay their taxes in person. "We really would like to take as much pain as possible out of the citizen's duty to pay taxes, says Ms. Desmond.
The treasurer-tax collector's office is part of a three-way operation. It works in concert with the assessor, who assesses valuations placed on real property; and the auditor, who establishes the rate of taxation based on the cash needs of county government; and the tax-collection function, which then sends out the tax bills and collects the money.
And Ms. Desmond, re-elected unopposed last year, strives to make it as painless as possible for the taxpayers from whom she collects.
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© 1999, The Sierra Star
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