The County Treasurer and Collector is the keeper of all monies that the County Board has jurisdiction over, as well as all real estate and mobile home taxes collected.
   The Treasurer sets up accounts in banks throughout the county and uses a specific bank for certain funds. Presently, there are four primary checking accounts, County General Account, Special General Account, County Highway Account and Payroll Clearing Account. Basically, funds are transferred from investment accounts to checking accounts for payments and claims.
   Also, the Treasurer is responsible for making investments of surplus funds to earn interest for respective accounts.
   The County Treasurer and Collector is responsible for collecting and distributing real estate taxes. Once a year the tax bills are mailed and the taxpayer has the option of paying the amount due in two equal installments. The due dates are determined after rates are received from the taxing districts. Payment is usually in June or July. A very important part of the job is making sure the taxpayers address is current. The mailing consists of approximately 13,400 real estate statements plus 1,100 mobile home statements. The mobile home tax is for the current year whereas the real estate tax is for the previous year. Upon receipt of the mobile home statement the entire amount is due.
  As these taxes are collected the funds are distributed to 52 taxing districts. The districts include 15 townships, seven fire districts, six libraries, five schools, two junior colleges, ambulance districts, parks and county entities.