Kylie Pritchett -- Democratic candidate for Vernon County collector/treasurer

Please provide us with information on your background. Include such information as your age, education, current occupation and experience related to the office you are seeking.

My name is Kylie Pritchett, Democratic candidate for Vernon County Collector/Treasurer. I was born in Nevada, Sept. 21, 1986, to Pat and Sue Renwick. I graduated from Nevada High School in 2005 and Crowder College in 2007. I married my husband Kermit in 2012, in addition to three children, Mackenzie, Trey, and Claire we had our baby Khloe in 2015. I am currently serving as deputy in the office of collector/treasurer under Phil Couch.

Why are you the best person to elect for this office?

My hands-on experience under Phil Couch the past five years has given me the knowledge and skills to operate the office. This knowledge and experience has trained me in a way that would allow me to make a smooth transition from your current collector/treasurer of 32 years. I would continue the great customer service and friendly atmosphere Vernon County has experienced the past 32 years and deserves to continue experiencing. Before coming to work for Phil, I had six years experience in banking that I also believe is a valuable asset to this office. I ask for your vote and look forward to serving as your next county collector/treasurer.

If elected and you did not have to worry about the cost of implementation, what is one thing you would change about the position and/or services it provides?

At this time, I don't believe there is anything I would want to change with the position or services in the office. All of our equipment and software are current and up to date. The service our office provides, although people don't enjoy giving money away, is very friendly and welcoming. The three of us currently in the office always greet everyone with a friendly smile and hello. We are always getting compliments on how friendly our office is, and people always come to us when they aren't sure where they need to be. In the future one thing that I might like to see change is that the county assessor, county clerk, and collector/treasurer all be on the same program as far as software. The three offices work very closely together and I believe if we were all on the same software it would make all the billing more easily transferred. At this time the assessor is on separate software from the clerk and collector/treasurer. Years ago we were all on the same, and I think I would like to see it go back to that someday.

Over the years and recently, various taxing entities within this county have sent erroneous bills. What controls will you put into place to ensure that this does not happen?

As for the erroneous bills, everything in our office is double checked and proofed before sending the information out, for example the tax sale ad each year. The most current mistake was not an error made through the collector/treasurer office, rather an error found by the county clerk's office. When it comes to sending out tax bills, there are three offices that are involved: the assessor, assesses the properties giving them a value; county clerk then enters the information from assessor's and all the different entities' tax levies to generate the bill; and then they are printed and mailed out by the collector/treasurer. I believe that an honest mistake was made and handled in the most professional and timely manner possible. All major things should be proofed/double checked by a second set of eyes, which would most likely cut out any room for error in the future.