To: Board of Supervisors
From: Monica Nino, County Administrator
Report Title: DETERMINE PROCESS FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNTY TREASURER-TAX COLLECTOR
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. ACCEPT a report from the County Administrator on the appointment process for a new Treasurer-Tax Collector;
2. DETERMINE process for recruitment of vacant Treasurer-Tax Collector position to be vacated effective December 31, 2023; and
3. PROVIDE staff direction on next steps.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No fiscal impact.
BACKGROUND:
On September 25, 2023, Russell Watts informed the Board of Supervisors and County Administrator in writing that he is retiring from the office of County Treasurer-Tax Collector, effective December 31, 2023. The current term of office for Treasurer-Tax Collector began on January 2, 2023, and expires on January 4, 2027. Government Code section 25304 requires the Board of Supervisors to appoint someone to fill the vacancy. The person appointed to fill the vacancy will hold the office for the unexpired term; that is, until noon on January 4, 2027.
1. Appointment Process
The law does not specify a process for appointing someone to the elective office of Treasurer-Tax Collector. In the past decade, there have been three resignations/retirements from elective County offices, and the Board adopted a similar appointment process each time. The Board adopted a process to appoint a replacement for the Clerk-Recorder in 2012, for the District Attorney in 2017, and for the Clerk-Recorder in 2019. In each appointment process, the Board took the following actions:
• set a period for accepting applications (e.g., four weeks);
• reviewed all applications at a public meeting after the filing deadline;
• publicly identified the applicants that the Board wished to interview; and
• conducted public interviews.
It has been the Board’s practice to obtain criminal history information, under the authority of Penal Code section 11105(b)(11), before filling a vacancy in an elective office. This allows the County to verify that the person selected is not disqualified from holding office by Constitution or state statute. The Board must take formal action to authorize the County Administrator to obtain a criminal background check. The Board could request a background check on all applicants that the Board decides to interview, or the Board could decide to wait until a candidate is selected to obtain the background check, as it did in the three cases above. The Board also has asked the selected candidate to provide an economic disclosure statement (Form 700).
2. Qualifications
As an elected official, the County Treasurer-Tax Collector is required under Government Code section 24001 to be a registered voter of Contra Costa County. A person who holds an elective County office also must be at least 18 years of age and a citizen of the State of California.
If a person is appointed to an elective office to fill a vacancy, the person is required to be a registered voter of this County at the time of the appointment. When the Board is considering establishing an appointment process, the Board should decide whether to accept applications from County residents only, or to also accept applications from residents of other counties, with the condition that the appointee becomes a Contra Costa County resident before assuming office.
To qualify for appointment to the office of Treasurer-Tax Collector, a person must also meet at least one of the following four criteria:
• The person has served in a senior financial management position in a county, city, or other public agency dealing with similar financial responsibilities for a continuous period of not less than three years, including, but not limited to, treasurer, tax collector, auditor, auditor-controller, or the chief deputy or an assistant in those offices.
• The person possesses a valid baccalaureate, masters, or doctoral degree from an accredited college or university in any of the following major fields of study: business administration, public administration, economics, finance, accounting, or a related field, with a minimum of 16 college semester units, or their equivalent, in accounting, auditing, or finance.
• The person possesses a valid certificate issued by the California Board of Accountancy pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 5000) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code, showing that person to be, and a permit authorizing that person to practice as, a certified public accountant.
• The person possesses a valid charter issued by the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts showing the person to be designated a Chartered Financial Analyst, with a minimum of 16 college semester units, or their equivalent, in accounting, auditing, or finance.
There is no statutory deadline for making an appointment to an elective office. If there is a gap between the last day that the incumbent holds office (December 31, 2023) and the date the vacancy is filled, the duties of the office may be temporarily discharged by the person in the office who is next in authority to the Treasurer-Tax Collector. The department currently has no Chief Assistant position, but rather has two Assistant positions - one covering the Treasurer function and one covering the Tax Collector function. If there is a gap in time, the Board may need to designate one of those individuals to discharge the duties of the department head until the vacancy is filled.
In this County, the offices of treasurer and tax collector are consolidated. State law also authorizes a board of supervisors to consolidate the offices of auditor, controller, treasurer, and tax collector, and to establish an office of director of finance, which consolidates the four offices of auditor, controller, treasurer, and tax collector. The office of director of finance (which is not the same as this County’s Finance Director) may be elective or appointed, and the question of whether to establish this office must be voted on by county voters.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
Negative action would delay establishment of a process for appointment of a County Treasurer-Tax Collector for the remainder of the current term of office.