CLAYTON 鈥 The department head who oversaw 最新杏吧原创 County鈥檚 senior property tax freeze program has resigned to take a new job.
Tony Smee said Monday he accepted a new job at PMA, a firm that manages investments for public agencies in Missouri. He said his decision to leave 最新杏吧原创 County didn鈥檛 have to do with his duties there.
鈥淭his was about an opportunity for me,鈥 to provide another form of public service, Smee said.
His last day was Friday.
Smee began working as the director of the Department of Revenue in December 2023.
The department helps manage property taxes, issues licenses and distributes money to other county agencies. But Smee became known for launching the county鈥檚 popular senior tax freeze program.
People are also reading…
He oversaw hiccups along the way.
Last year, Smee successfully lobbied the 最新杏吧原创 County Council for additional money to pay for staff and software to handle tax freeze applications. After demand overwhelmed the application system, he oversaw a software upgrade.
Roughly 70,000 people have submitted applications to the program.
This past winter, the department struggled to process mailed property tax payments because of delivery delays by the U.S. Postal Service and a staffing shortage in the county collector鈥檚 office.
The revenue department often receives tens of thousands of tax payments per week in tax payment season. But in January, it didn鈥檛 receive any mail one week and only a few thousand the following week. Then it received tens of thousands on other days, creating a backlog.
The department cleared the backlog by early February, but the problems caused frustration among taxpayers who incurred fees for late payment despite sending their checks on time.
Before working for the county, Smee served as chief appraiser for the Cape Girardeau County assessor.
Before Smee, Scott Lakin ran the department. He retired in September 2023 after less than a year on the job.
The county鈥檚 deputy director in the revenue department, Erica Savage, will serve as acting director until County Executive Sam Page appoints a replacement for Smee.
最新杏吧原创 County executive Sam Page described the new features to the county's flag as it was unveiled during his State of the County address on March 11, 2025.聽