(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors will hold their regular weekly meeting next week at 9-a.m. on Wednesday, instead of the normal Tuesday, due to June 7^th being the Primary Election Day. One of the main topics the Board will discuss, is the sudden revelation on Wednesday (June 2^nd), that the Treasurer’s Office hours have been reduced (effective today), due to staffing issues and having to train new employees to fill the vacant positions. As previously mentioned, the new hours are Monday-Wed.-Thursday & Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., closed for lunch those same days from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., and re-open from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. The Office is now closed all day, on Tuesdays.

Board Chair Steve Baier says the number of hours the Treasurer’s Office was reduced to, caught the Supervisors by surprise because they had not received prior there was no prior discussion. He acknowledged that while the treasurer has control over her office, and as such can set the hours accordingly, there may be other options that would allow staff training to take place without impacting the level of service to the public.

Some Treasurer’s Office transactions may be accomplished online, but Baier said the people of his generation tend to prefer in-person communication and transactions, whenever possible. He said “As you know, we recently had a transition in the auditor’s office that included training a new deputy (Dee South) to take Mary Anstey’s position, as Mary took over assessor duties as well as Sara Harris stepping into the auditor’s position with Dale Sunderman’s retirement.”  He added that “We were able to reach out to personnel in neighboring counties, specifically Montgomery County Auditor Stephanie Burke, who came to Atlantic several times to help Sara as she took over the reins.  We only had one day when the auditor’s office was closed and that was due to state training on new election laws.

“It is pretty standard practice among counties, Baier said, for counties “to help each other as staff turns over.” He added that “ With Tracey being state treasurers’ association president, I would certainly expect her to have the connections to get the assistance she needs.” A Treasurer’s Office employee, Julie Symonds, who has three decades of experience, is planning on retirement in a few weeks. Baier said “This certainly isn’t how she expected her career with the county to come to a close,” and he feels badly for her being asked to work longer than planned.