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Dear Fellow Citizens of Lawrence County:

      Thank you very much for visiting our website here at the Lawrence County Treasurer’s Office.  Best wishes for a healthy, happy, and successful New Year to each of you and your families!

      It is with much pride and enthusiasm that I begin my second year serving as your County Treasurer.  Foremost, I recognize how vital it is as your new Treasurer to have earned your trust and faith in my abilities.  I am very grateful for how you, the citizens of Lawrence County, have embraced my platforms and how you have entrusted me to represent you as your new County Treasurer.  As your financial steward, I take this role very seriously and am very committed to providing you, the taxpayer, with fiscal responsibility and pledge that my staff and I will always deliver cordial, honorable, ethical, accountable, and professional business services to you, “our supervisors”.

      Because I firmly believe that your Treasurer’s office should be operated like the business it is, going forward, you will see and hear about my staff and I implementing new procedures, practices, and programs that will enhance effectiveness and create a more efficient business environment which will enable us to deliver superior customer service directly to you.

      The office of County Treasurer is familiar to most county residents.  To better serve you, I feel it is important that you understand exactly what the Treasurer’s duties are.  The County Treasurer is a four-year elected position and is the chief tax collector, a position that holds a high degree of responsibility.  The Treasurer and his staff are accountable for receipting and depositing all monies received by the County and releasing and disbursing all expenditures on the treasury.  Receipts are issued on each form of payment and the Treasurer personally signs all disbursement checks authorized by the County Commissioners.  A fundamental duty is the receipt of your county taxes.  The real estate tax is the main source of revenue for County government.  Your County Treasurer is responsible for collecting taxes on approximately 51,000 taxable properties in Lawrence County, which quantifies to nearly 15 million dollars.  Your Treasurer also maintains the cash management by investing the monies in short term investments and only transfers cash on an as need basis.  Your County Treasurer’s office also serves as the repository for all monies remitted from the various county departments, with all funds kept separate and fully accounted for on a department by department basis.  The total monies that will pass through your County Treasurer’s office during any given year is approximately 75 million dollars.  With the race track now a reality for Lawrence County, additional real estate taxes and revenue are expected to be generated and will pass through your Treasurer’s office in the near future.

      Our office also serves as an Agent to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  This means we issue dog, fishing, hunting, archery, doe, and boat licenses, as well as providing bingo and small games of chance licenses.

      Another very important function of your County Treasurer is to serve on the County Employees’ Retirement Board along with the County Commissioners and County Controller.  The purpose of this retirement board is to invest member contributions in a fiscally prudent manner so when employees retire they will have a steady source of income.

      So, as you can see, your County Treasurer's office is quite multi-functional.  We serve both you, the taxpayer, and other County departments as a professional team to manage the money entrusted to us and provide accurate and honorable service.

      As your elected County Treasurer, my goal is to continue to provide you with excellent customer service.  We will maintain and improve our website so that you, the taxpayer, have the information and the tools to accomplish meeting your needs and concerns.  My office is staffed by an exceptional group of people dedicated to serving the public, the various departments, and agencies that rely on our services.  We take pride in our commitment to you and welcome your comments and suggestions on how we can be of better service to you.

      In closing, please know that my door is always open to help my fellow taxpayers with their questions.  I would like to cordially invite you to visit me here in the County Treasurer’s office at the Lawrence County Government Center.  I am looking forward to meeting each of you personally and always know that you have in place a County Treasurer’s Team that is working for…YOU!

 Respectfully yours,

 Richard L. Rapone

Lawrence County Treasurer
rlrapone@co.lawrence.pa.us