Longtime Summit County Treasurer Glen Thompson said he plans to retire this year and candidates may line up to replace the Republican in the elected post.
Coalville Democrat Tyler Rowser, 26, said he will file papers when the window for people to declare their candidacies opens March 12.
If elected the 26-year-old said he hopes to make the office more transparent to taxpayers.
“Anybody should be able to see any check that is issued or any payment that is issued by the county at any point in time,” Rowser said. “I personally believe that that information should potentially be listed online. Of course we’d have to validate through state law that we could do that.”
The treasurer monitors receiving and accounts for all county funds. The office assists in borrowing and investing money for Summit County. The treasurer also collects assessments and fees for special districts and the Division of Motor Vehicles.
Rowser said he is a graduate of North Summit High School who was born and raised in Henefer. Rowser has not graduated from college.
All offices in the County Courthouse “link back to the treasurer at some point,” he explained.
“Through computer systems we could streamline a lot of the work that goes from the other offices into the Treasurer’s Office,” he said in a telephone interview Thursday. “There is some other streamlining we could do to help cut down on costs and bring things together better there.”
“I’d like to see all Summit County taxing entities receive their funds electronically, which will cut down on a lot of the administrative costs of sending out checks,” Rowser said. “There are some taxing entities out there that are still getting paper checks. It takes time to make the checks. It takes time and money to send those out.”
Rowser said he is employed as the chief financial officer for an oil and construction company in Evanston, Wyo.
One of the treasurer’s most important duties is investing money for the county in which Rowser admits he doesn’t have much experience.
“The investment part is a very hard thing to do and I’ve never dealt with investments,” Rowser said. “That is one of my faults.”
Usually the county treasurer race doesn’t attract much attention. However, the position will be critical as the county moves forward in an economic downturn, said Henry Glasheen, chairman of the Summit County Republican Party.
Glasheen, who has been a professional investment adviser for about 25 years, said he is considering filing as a candidate for treasurer this year.
“I know how tricky this is,” Glasheen said. “I think we need to be very prudent in the way we invest those funds.”
Thompson has overseen the Treasurer’s Office during mostly rosy economic times, Glasheen said.
“We’ve gone through periods in the past 20 years that have basically been easy,” the 47-year-old Jeremy Ranch resident said.
But rising interest rates would make the job more difficult, Glasheen stressed.
“This county is growing and we need to make sure that those assets are taken care of,” Glasheen said. “The last 20 years have been fortuitous and I think the next 20 years may not be.”
Glasheen said he will seriously consider running for treasurer if a more qualified candidate does not emerge.
“I’m running if nobody steps up,” he said in a telephone interview. “If I do this it will be more of a consequence of the wrong person being in the race.”