Ratcliffe seeks seventh term as Benton County Treasurer

BENTONVILLE -- Deanna Ratcliffe is seeking a seventh term as Benton County Treasurer.

Ratcliffe is running unopposed for the position and her name will not appear on the primary election or general election ballots. The office of Treasurer has an annual salary of $94,656.90 and a term of four years beginning in 2019.

Ratcliffe, 52, is a Bentonville native. A Republican, she has served as Treasurer since 2005. Prior to being elected in 2004 she worked for 22 years in banking with the Bank of Bentonville, now Arvest Bank.

Ratcliffe said she was approached about serving as Treasurer when Gloria Peterson was retiring from that office. Peterson has since been elected County Collector.

"After much discussion with my family and friends we decided to hold a little press conference on the courthouse steps announcing I would run," Ratcliffe said.

The Treasurer is the chief disbursement officer for the county, Ratcliffe said, taking the property tax revenue collected by the county and distributing it among the taxing entities, including the county, cities, school districts and other taxing entities. The office also issues county payroll and accounts payable disbursements.

Ratcliffe said she has worked with the Arkansas County Treasurer's Association to update state laws allowing electronic record keeping. She said the changes have significantly reduced the amount of paper records kept by the Treasurer's Office. The office has also worked to utilize improved security features for county funds.

"Because of security concerns we really have to stay on top of that and have secured our processed to prevent any type of malware or other attacks," she said.

Ratcliffe said the Treasurer's Office is also working to keep the county's record safe in the event of any type of disaster.

"We're really taken a look in our office on procedures for disaster recovery," she said. "We have procedures in place and we've tested them. For any type of disaster we can be up and running very quickly."

NW News on 03/07/2018

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