Jefferson County Collector Michelle Worth has announced she will not seek reelection this year.
Worth, 63, of the Festus area has worked in the collector’s office for 26 years, becoming deputy collector in 2011. She was appointed as collector in 2020 after Beth Mahn resigned due to health reasons.
Worth was elected to a four-year term as a Republican in 2022, taking office on March 1, 2023.
Worth said she’s looking forward to spending more time with her family, and especially traveling with her husband, Terry, when her term ends on March 1, 2027.
“I am proud of my time as collector; my goal was to continue running the office with the same integrity and commitment that my predecessor Beth Mahn had, and I feel that I have accomplished this,” Worth said. “Retiring will be bittersweet because we have a family-like atmosphere that is supportive, friendly and collaborative, and I will miss them all when I retire.”
Worth said she supports Assistant Collector Jennifer Modray’s campaign for the collector position.
Modray, 57, of Hillsboro, said she filed for the position for the Aug. 4 primary election on Feb. 24. She will run as a Republican.
“I have worked with Jennifer for 19 years, and she has been my chief deputy for the last six years,” Worth said. “Her knowledge of the office, dependability and work ethic make her the perfect choice for my replacement. In the position of collector, I believe experience is extremely important.”
“I am seeking the collector position to continue providing dependable leadership and trusted service to the citizens of our county,” Modray said. “My experience and training in working closely with the collector make for a smooth transition for continued service.”
Worth oversees 11 employees in the Collector’s Office. She said there have been many changes over the nearly three decades she’s worked in the office: online payments were introduced, drastically reducing the number of checks received in the office, and new software and credit card vendors allow for a variety of payment options that she said has simplified the payment process.
The Real Property Tax Credit for Seniors rollout was “hands down” the biggest challenge for her and her staff, Worth said.
The County Council approved in February 2024 a senior real estate tax credit, which opened for applications for the first time in March 2025. Worth said her department received 14,335 applications from county seniors by the deadline.
The program was made possible through Senate Bill 190, which was signed into law in 2023. It allows taxpayers 62 years or older to receive an annual credit equal to the difference between their base tax year and the current tax year.
“The implementation (of the senior tax credit) was assigned to my office in addition to our normal duties,” she said. “The short window of time to prepare and implement SB190 made this a huge undertaking.”
In 2025, the collector’s office was expected to collect $235 million in real estate property taxes, with that revenue distributed to local school, fire and ambulance districts, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, the Jefferson County Library, and other tax-collecting entities. A total of $1.9 million was given in senior tax credits in 2025, Worth said.
A question will be on the April 7 ballot asking Jefferson County voters to expand the tax credit to all eligible property owners, regardless of age.
Modray
Modray began working part-time for the department in 2007, helping post payments during the busy tax season. In 2010, she took a full-time position as an administrative assistant, and in 2015, she became the office manager. In 2020, she was selected by Worth to serve as deputy collector, now called assistant collector.
During her time at the Collector’s Office, Modray completed four years of training through the Missouri County Collector’s Association (MCCA), and she said she’s built a network of other county collectors by attending MCCA conferences.
“I have always enjoyed numbers and clerical work,” Modray said. “Doing clerical work, I have worked for Community Federal Savings and Loan, Suburban Journals, Universal Display Company and Seiler Plastics. I took some time to be a mother and homemaker. Once my kids were in school, I started in the Collector’s Office.”
Modray and her husband, Mark, have been married for 34 years and have three adult children, Christa, Maxwell and Molly.
A Jefferson County native, Modray grew up in Arnold and attended Fox Elementary School before her family moved to St. Louis County. She graduated from Kirkwood High School.
Modray received an associate’s degree in business administration from St. Louis Community College-Meramec, and in 1990, Modray bought her first house in Imperial with her husband.
Modray said they lived there for six years before building their current home in Hillsboro.
Modray is a member of Pilgrim’s Rest Baptist Church in Hillsboro, serving as a leader with the kids club, Vacation Bible School, Sunday School and nursery. She’s also on the church’s budget, event and strategic planning committees.
Modray is a member of the Jefferson County Republican Club.
“I like being aware of new ideas, being reminded of our founding and seeing how I can take part in civil duty to maintain and improve this great county, state and country,” she said.
If elected, Modray said she would like to continue some of the projects Worth has put in motion, including offering pre-payments on taxes and creating an online fillable application portal for the senior tax credit.
Modray said she feels prepared to take on the role of county collector.
“As deputy collector, I often must stand in place for when the collector is out of the office and as her assistant, to be included in many tasks, decision-making and meetings,” she said.
“I have dealt with the stress of the busy tax season, along with being involved in staff hiring and training. I have been through a software change, a payment processor change, a bank change, COVID protocols and helped implement our processing of the senior tax credit.”