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Election 2011: Roger Zurn, Treasurer Thursday, Sep. 22 by Hannah Hager | 9 comments | Email this story 0As a four-term Loudoun County Treasurer and a former Loudoun Board of Supervisors member, Roger Zurn knows the intricacies of Loudoun’s money matters.
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Loudoun County News
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Date: September 23, 2011 07:11AM
Election 2011: Roger Zurn, Treasurer
Thursday, Sep. 22 by Hannah Hager
http://www.loudountimes.com/index.php/news/article/election_2011_roger_zurn_treasurer123/
As a four-term Loudoun County Treasurer and a former Loudoun Board of Supervisors member, Roger Zurn knows the intricacies of Loudoun’s money matters.
He has served as Treasurer since 1996, seeing the county’s population triple during that time. Loudoun’s budget has grown from nearly $400 million dollars in the late ‘90’s to $1.6 billion dollars today, he said. He also manages nearly $400 million in cash assets.
As treasurer, Zurn is responsible for the collection, investment and accounting of Loudoun’s funds. With Zurn at the helm, the county has consistently met 99 percent of Virginia’s collection rates in real estate and personal property taxes. His office was also one of the first to accept online bill payments as well as allow taxpayers to receive their tax bills through email, which he said saves the county thousands of dollars in postage expenses.
Zurn was raised in Baltimore, Md., and is a graduate of the University of Maryland with a degree in bank management. He worked at several local banks until he reached the level of senior lending officer. He left banking to start a business with his wife before entering local politics in 1990. He and his wife have lived in Loudoun since 1982. Zurn won the Sterling Board of Supervisors’ seat in 1990 in a special election and was re-elected in a general election in 1991.
He left the board to run for Treasurer in 1995 when his predecessor and mentor, George Titus, retired after 35 years in the position. At the time, several local elected officials and business leaders were convinced he was a shoo-in because he was chairman of the finance committee and had a banking background. The rest, as they say, is history, he said.
In Zurn’s first two races for Treasurer, he ran against Democrat Paul Jordan. He won both elections. He ran unopposed in 2003 but faced off against Democrat Chuck Harris in 2007. He is running unopposed in November’s election.
“I expect this election to be pretty successful,” he joked.
Still, he said he has worked to stay in touch with the general public as well as within his political party. Zurn, a Republican, is Loudoun’s longest-serving elected official. He was also previously named the Loudoun Times-Mirror’s “Citizen of the Year.”
“I’m responsible for the collection, billing and investment of all county funds. Anything that is cash that comes into the county, I am responsible for,” he said.
Zurn personally makes the county’s investments, which total between $400-500 million. He pays the county’s vendors and makes sure that money is available when the county needs it to pay its bills.
Zurn instated “Project Fairness,” a program that seeks out tax evaders with the assistance of the public. The program ensures that everyone pays their fair share of taxes, thus reducing the tax burden on the law abiding citizen, he said. In fiscal 2010, the program brought in more than $800,000 in new revenue.
Loudoun has had a clean audit every year; his office has been recognized as a leader in Virginia in the collection of taxes numerous times and has been consistently ranked among the top in Virginia in return on investment, earning a AAA bond rating for strong fiscal management.
Zurn was also the first treasurer in the commonwealth to collect court fines. The program allows for Loudoun to earn a percentage of collected delinquent court fines, which brought in $200,000 in new revenue during its first year.
Citizens are often surprised that he personally fields their calls when they phone into his office asking for him. The top two reasons behind the calls are inquiries into why their taxes are so high and various reasons why their payments are late. Zurn often finds himself explaining that he does not set the tax rate, the Loudoun Board of Supervisors does, and then he advises citizens on his office’s spending and financial controls as well as how it manages its money.
Zurn recognizes that most citizens in the county dread seeing his name in their mailboxes come tax collection time.
“My own wife doesn’t like to see my name in the mail,” he said.
But, his name on the envelope is important to him so that Loudoun residents know that “there is one person who is totally responsible for what happens with their money, and that’s me.”
Attachments:
Thursday, Sep. 22 by Hannah Hager
http://www.loudountimes.com/index.php/news/article/election_2011_roger_zurn_treasurer123/
As a four-term Loudoun County Treasurer and a former Loudoun Board of Supervisors member, Roger Zurn knows the intricacies of Loudoun’s money matters.
He has served as Treasurer since 1996, seeing the county’s population triple during that time. Loudoun’s budget has grown from nearly $400 million dollars in the late ‘90’s to $1.6 billion dollars today, he said. He also manages nearly $400 million in cash assets.
As treasurer, Zurn is responsible for the collection, investment and accounting of Loudoun’s funds. With Zurn at the helm, the county has consistently met 99 percent of Virginia’s collection rates in real estate and personal property taxes. His office was also one of the first to accept online bill payments as well as allow taxpayers to receive their tax bills through email, which he said saves the county thousands of dollars in postage expenses.
Zurn was raised in Baltimore, Md., and is a graduate of the University of Maryland with a degree in bank management. He worked at several local banks until he reached the level of senior lending officer. He left banking to start a business with his wife before entering local politics in 1990. He and his wife have lived in Loudoun since 1982. Zurn won the Sterling Board of Supervisors’ seat in 1990 in a special election and was re-elected in a general election in 1991.
He left the board to run for Treasurer in 1995 when his predecessor and mentor, George Titus, retired after 35 years in the position. At the time, several local elected officials and business leaders were convinced he was a shoo-in because he was chairman of the finance committee and had a banking background. The rest, as they say, is history, he said.
In Zurn’s first two races for Treasurer, he ran against Democrat Paul Jordan. He won both elections. He ran unopposed in 2003 but faced off against Democrat Chuck Harris in 2007. He is running unopposed in November’s election.
“I expect this election to be pretty successful,” he joked.
Still, he said he has worked to stay in touch with the general public as well as within his political party. Zurn, a Republican, is Loudoun’s longest-serving elected official. He was also previously named the Loudoun Times-Mirror’s “Citizen of the Year.”
“I’m responsible for the collection, billing and investment of all county funds. Anything that is cash that comes into the county, I am responsible for,” he said.
Zurn personally makes the county’s investments, which total between $400-500 million. He pays the county’s vendors and makes sure that money is available when the county needs it to pay its bills.
Zurn instated “Project Fairness,” a program that seeks out tax evaders with the assistance of the public. The program ensures that everyone pays their fair share of taxes, thus reducing the tax burden on the law abiding citizen, he said. In fiscal 2010, the program brought in more than $800,000 in new revenue.
Loudoun has had a clean audit every year; his office has been recognized as a leader in Virginia in the collection of taxes numerous times and has been consistently ranked among the top in Virginia in return on investment, earning a AAA bond rating for strong fiscal management.
Zurn was also the first treasurer in the commonwealth to collect court fines. The program allows for Loudoun to earn a percentage of collected delinquent court fines, which brought in $200,000 in new revenue during its first year.
Citizens are often surprised that he personally fields their calls when they phone into his office asking for him. The top two reasons behind the calls are inquiries into why their taxes are so high and various reasons why their payments are late. Zurn often finds himself explaining that he does not set the tax rate, the Loudoun Board of Supervisors does, and then he advises citizens on his office’s spending and financial controls as well as how it manages its money.
Zurn recognizes that most citizens in the county dread seeing his name in their mailboxes come tax collection time.
“My own wife doesn’t like to see my name in the mail,” he said.
But, his name on the envelope is important to him so that Loudoun residents know that “there is one person who is totally responsible for what happens with their money, and that’s me.”
Attachments:
Re: Election 2011: Roger Zurn, Treasurer Thursday, Sep. 22 by Hannah Hager | 9 comments | Email this story 0As a four-term Loudoun County Treasurer and a former Loudoun Board of Supervisors member, Roger Zurn knows the intricacies of Loudoun’s money matte
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Oh Noes
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Date: September 30, 2011 07:03AM
He's been there forever, but I guess he does his job pretty well.