Carrie Huffman was appointed by the county board of commissioners on June 7 to serve as the interim auditor/treasurer. She will serve as A/T until the end of the elected term of Shirl Boelter, who resigned on May 31.
Kristina Kohn, Human Resources, told the board on June 7 that Carrie Huffman is the right person with the knowledge needed for the job. Kohn recognized that the normal hiring process would be difficult in this case, as it is hard to find a candidate that is willing to apply for a position for a limited period of time (about 2.5 years). Huffman agreed to take the A/T job with an end date of January 1, 2019.
Huffman grew up in Spring Valley and is a Kingsland graduate. She worked for about seven years for Home Federal, gaining accounting experience there. Since then, she has been employed by Fillmore County as an Account Technician for about eight-and-a-half years, most recently as an Account Tech/Case Aide in community services, Public Health division. When she was an Account Technician in the A/T’s office, she worked under the supervision of the A/T.
Huffman lives with her family in Harmony. Her husband Jason is a district field manager for DeLaval (milking equipment). They have five children. Sydnie is a junior at Winona State. The four younger children are students at Fillmore Central: Domanic/high school junior, Brock/fourth grade, Savana/third grade, and Kendyl/first grade.
The county A/T has a wide variety of responsibilities including payroll, deeds, forfeitures and mortgages, vital statistics, passports, expenditures, receipts, licenses and permits, property transfers, property tax calculations, collections and disbursements, and election administration. Huffman noted that property taxes can now also be paid with ACH automatic payments or with a credit card.
Her department is looking at and evaluating all processes that have been done in the past and is working with other departments to streamline and become more efficient. New payroll software will be put into use in January that should improve efficiency and eliminate duplication with Human Resources.
Huffman admitted that she already has learned a lot and expects to complete more training. She said Houston County has been fantastic, helping her walk through some things. The A/T department has had seven employees in the past. When Huffman started as interim A/T the department was down to two employees, due to retirements or resignations. Two more people have been hired for a total of five. Huffman said the new people are working out well.
The floor in the outer office is cluttered with many suitcase looking parcels, which are actually voting machines. Huffman said she has been involved with elections in the past. The general election is coming up. Machines will be checked, ballots prepared, and after the election returns will be canvassed.
On the ballot this year in November will be questions allowing the public to decide whether the auditor/treasurer and/or the county recorder should be appointed in the future or continue to be elected positions. Huffman made it clear she agreed 100% that both positions should be appointed positions. They are important positions that require specific knowledge and skill sets. If the majority of voters vote “yes” on each of the questions, then applicants for each of the positions will go through the same hiring process as other county employees.