The Treasurer-Tax Collector is a municipal finance office and I am a municipal finance officer having served Napa County in this capacity for the past decade as the Assistant Auditor-Controller.  My experience with County, schools and special district finances makes me uniquely qualified to become the next Treasurer-Tax Collector. for Napa County.

I am endorsed by every municipal finance officer serving the County for the past 30 years, every Treasurer-Tax Collector and every Auditor-Controller.  I truly cherish these endorsements because I have worked with each person and they possess direct knowledge of my capabilities as they pertain to the office and how my past service has benefitted the citizens of Napa County.  Some of my accomplishments include:

• Developed a jail construction financing plan that will save Napa County taxpayers $125 million over the next 25 years. The plan will allow the County to construct the new jail while avoiding the issuance of debt.

• Spearheaded the County's adoption of a pension rate stabilization fund to protect against future pension costs.

• Developed a plan to payoff a County pension tier saving taxpayers $10 million over the next 13 years.

• Collaborated with staff from the State Controller's Office, Department of Finance and the California Department of Education to protect Napa County property tax dollars benefitting the County, cities, town and special districts in excess of $200 million over the past 12 years.

• Worked with the Department of Finance and the offices of Senator Dodd & Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry to secure property tax backfills for the County, cities, town, schools and special districts following the 2017 Napa Fire Event.

My family is fortunate to have a long history in Napa County.  My family tree traces its Napa roots back to the 1850s (Robert Brownlee) on my mother's side and the early 1900s (Ralph Minahen) on my father's side.  Both Robert Brownlee and Ralph Minahen served on the Napa County Board of Supervisors. My grandfather, Hayden Perkins, purchased a ranch in American Canyon in the 1940s which remains the focal point for my five siblings and me.

I am an American Canyon resident along with my wife Sarah and my two boys Garrett (23) and Ryan (19).  I am an avid horseman having managed my family's cattle ranch for 20 years.

I look forward to continuing my history of public service as the next Napa County Treasurer-Tax Collector.

Integrity and honesty are paramount to gaining and maintaining public trust and are two of my guiding principles.  I will work to maintain, and even build upon the attributes already on full display within our Treasurer-Tax Collector's Office.  The citizens of Napa County can believe what I say, expect a department run on principle and expect me to do the right thing even when the right thing is difficult.

The Treasurer-Tax Collector has stewardship over the citizens' shared financial resources and has the responsibility to collect, protect and build these resources in order to provide essential services to Napa County residents.  Understanding the varying responsibilities within the office, whether it be Revenue and Taxation Code dealing with property taxes, complying with State Government Code and County policy while investing, or complying with terms of the various debt instructions issued by the County, schools and special districts is critical in effectively demonstrating the level of stewardship the citizens of Napa County should expect.

A high level of customer service is an expectation within the Treasurer-Tax Collector's Office.  Let's be honest, no one enjoys paying their property tax bill so it is my goal to make sure the Treasurer-Tax Collector's work is as accurate as possible and when issues arise, the issues are resolved in an expedient and well communicated manner.  The office should be looked at as a resource for our citizens. While more and more businesses are trying to avoid communicating with their clients, the Treasurer-Tax Collector must constantly strive to be available for our citizens and thoroughly address each person's concerns.

The Treasurer-Tax Collector is an independent position.  The Treasurer-Tax Collector is independent because the office's clients extend well beyond the offices of the County.  The Treasurer-Tax Collector serves all county school entities (Office of Education, K-12 and Napa Valley College), Napa County, cities/town and special districts within the county.  In order to perform the varying duties of the office, the Treasurer-Tax Collector must do what is right every single time, without regard to who benefits, and be able to address the "why" when asked.

My plan for moving the office forward focuses on innovation.  How can we leverage technology to make our work more accurate and more efficient without compromising on data security and internal controls?  All governments must concentrate on administrative efficiencies in order to push as many dollars as possible out to support program needs benefitting our citizens.  Being able to creatively balance the needs of granting agencies with more efficient processes is a challenge that all governments must address.

Whether it is finding ways to address our aging infrastructure, accumulating funds to build a new jail facility or addressing the County's outstanding pension liabilities, I am up for the challenge.