Catawba County Employee Spotlight

Nora Smyre-Tax Collection Clerk II

Title: Tax Collection Clerk II
Department: Tax

How long have you worked with the county?  

21 years

What does your job involve? Please describe what you do.

I answer taxpayer’s questions by phone and in person and take payments at the cashier desk. I am also the back up for the daily reconciliation, to make sure our collection totals balance with the Finance department records before funds are deposited. We collect delinquent taxes by garnishment of wages, attachment of bank accounts and state refunds. We also make payment arrangement with taxpayers.

What do you like most about what you do, and why?

I like meeting new people and calming their fears that the county wants to take their home. Catawba County is good about working with people who have faced a financial hardship due to job loss or medical issues. I often recommend the elderly and disabled to apply for the exemption per General Statute 105-277. If they qualify, to reduce their tax burden.

Which of the county’s core values (doing what’s right, doing what matters, doing it together, doing it well) resonates most with you in the work you do, and why? 

Doing what matters, by giving taxpayers options, but still collecting necessary funds that provide services to all our citizens.