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Mower County  Auditor/Treasurer  Scott Felten is running for a second term and he will be doing it unopposed.

During his term as Auditor/Treasurer, Felten has been able to streamline and increase staff in the office and is in a better positioned to meet the needs of the county.

“I want to continue the progress that has been made in the auditor-treasurer’s office these past three and a half years,” Felten said. “I lead a great team in my department who really cares about the work they do and providing quality service to the people of Mower County.”

That increase in staffing was seen as necessary to truly make the office as efficient as possible and was made possible by a close working relationship with county administration.

“The county board and county administrator have been great to work with and have been very supportive of things like getting adequately staffed and approving the purchase of new election equipment,” Felten said.

A reason for wanting to continue the progress  the office has made is to get past how new the position is for Felten.

Despite coming from a tax and accounting background, Felten needed to spend much of the first term simply getting into the swing of every other aspect of the Auditor/Treasurer’s office.

“It has been a learning experience,” Felten admitted. “Other county auditor-treasurers have stated it really takes a full four-year term to get a real feel for the position.”

Getting to know the ropes was even more challenging as the latter half of his term has included a pandemic which led to a unique voting situation in 2020, the first presidential nominating primary in 60 years and two special elections in just over a year’s time.

On top of that was the 10-year census that led to redistricting.

“There have been a lot of extra things that our office has handled, the normal duties and work that we do on a weekly basis,” Felten said.

With a full term under his belt Felten is looking to continue the process of learning and improve on the work the Auditor/Treasurer’s office has done in the past few years.

Specifically, Felten said he would also like to get caught up on selling tax forfeited properties. To that end he would also like to better identify vacant properties and could accelerate the fax forfeiture process to avoid those properties from deteriorating.

“I also want to continue our efforts of being proactive in contacting property owners and delinquent taxes to make sure they realize they are behind and providing opportunities for them to get caught up to avoid further penalties and interest and potential forfeiture,” Felten said.