Coos County Treasurer Mary Barton advised attendees at a work session yesterday this was her last term. Barton has absorbed many duties over the years that extend beyond the state’s constitutional mandates for her office that include acting as a tax collector and budget director. During the work session, Barton encouraged the board to hire a finance director to “prepare and present budget, manage audits, provide assistance to departments on budget and accounting”, oversee payroll and accounts payable and take over tax collections and manage related staff. Barton has been performing these extra functions without added compensation for many years.

The salary range for this person would be $75K to $90K per year.

With the HR director, Mike Lehman, leaving the county may restructure that position by hiring an assistant county counsel with a strong background in labor law or shuffling those duties to other department heads.