On the day Michelle Worth was sworn in after being appointed as Jefferson County collector, she said she didn’t want to commit to running for a full term because she wanted to concentrate on the coming tax season.
Now that she’s gotten a feel for what it’s like to lead the office, she has announced she will run for a four-year term as a Republican in the August 2022 primary election.
The general election for the position will be held in November 2022.
Worth, 59, of Festus took over the office in September 2020 after Beth Mahn, who had been in the job for 34 years, resigned due to health reasons.
Worth had worked in the office since January 2000 and been the deputy collector under Mahn since January 2011.
The Collector’s Office prepares and collects current and delinquent property tax bills and then distributes the receipts to the county’s various taxing entities.
Worth oversees a staff of 12.
“I love my job as collector,” she said. “I have always loved accounting and numbers and the challenges they bring. I have great working relationships with my office employees and with the other county offices, too.”
Worth said she was groomed for the job. “I worked so closely with Beth, especially the last 10 years. I would say she trained me really well to take over,” Worth said.
She said she’s encountered no surprises over the last year running the office.
“I don’t know that I’ve necessarily learned anything new over the last several months,” she said. “I have been doing the job for the last 20 years. Everybody here wants me to stay, and I’m not quite ready to retire.”
While Worth said the transition has gone smoothly, if elected, she has a couple of changes in mind.
“I think everything here is going pretty well, but of course there’s always room for improvement,” she said. “One thing I would like, and I think we’re going to get it by 2023, is prepayment of your tax bills. Our software vendor said the next upgrade will allow us to do that.”
Once the system is implemented, after paying one year’s taxes, residents may prepay their next year’s bill (based on the previous amount) in installments by authorizing an automatic withdrawal from a checking account, Worth said.
“A lot of people have told me they’d rather do it that way rather than having to come up with the money right around Christmas,” she said. “But other than that feature, I’d say we pretty much stay up to date.”
Worth said she hopes voters recognize that experience counts in the Collector’s Office.
Worth and her husband, Terry, have three children and two grandchildren.
The collector is paid an $86,120 annual salary.
Filing for the August 2022 primary election runs from Feb. 22, 2022, through March 29, 2022.