Schluttenhofer steps up to Wright County treasurer’s job
ISU grad took over office in 2006By KAREN WELD Messenger correspondent
CLARION - Peggy Schluttenhofer had big shoes to fill when she took over as Wright County treasurer on the first day of 2006.
She was following in the footsteps of long-time treasurer Karen Hobbie, who retired. Schluttenhofer had worked with Hobbie in the treasurer's office since her graduation from Iowa State University in 1995.
"Becoming the treasurer wasn't a real tough transition," said Schluttenhofer. "Karen was a good teacher and because the office is so small, we are all cross-trained for each others' jobs. We know what one another does to cover illnesses, vacations and lunch hours."
Schluttenhofer said county treasurer duties probably do not vary much from one county to another.
"Our office does motor vehicle licensing, collects fees for new registrations and issues new and renewed drivers' licenses for the State of Iowa," she said. "We collect county property taxes and are responsible for investing county funds."
The Wright County treasurer's office currently has six employees, including Schluttenhofer.
She said the favorite part of her job is meeting and dealing with the public.
"It is tax season now and I love the busyness," she said. "I enjoy seeing all of the people in Wright County at least one time per year."
In spite of the slowed economy, she said people who are coming to pay their taxes are enjoyable to be around.
"We have very good taxpayers," Schluttenhofer said.
Iowa keeps county treasurers like Schluttenhofer well-trained, she said.
"I try to stay on top of everything," she said. "I just got a copy of last year's Iowa Code and I read up on changes for my department there. There are two Iowa State Association of Counties meetings and there is a summer state treasurers' meeting which moves to various locations across Iowa each year."
Schluttenhofer said, "I am glad that we live in a smaller, rural county with good people who live here. It is a county where the people care about one another and we care about the people with whom we work."
In her 18 years working in the treasurer's office, Schluttenhofer has seen a number of technological changes: the remote capturing of deposits and the use of debit and all major credit cards to pay taxes.
"The use of the debit and credit cards are for the convenience of our customers," she said. "We have to assess the users the card fees as we are not allowed to use county funds for the service."
Contact Karen Weld at (515) 573-2141 or editor@messengernews.net
