Kauffman touts experience in treasurer race

Republican Tim Kauffman was working as a commercial banker when he was called in 2008 and asked to replace newly elected Commissioner Faye Griffin as Jeffco treasurer. And though he was not new to politics, it took a bit of coaxing before he agreed to fill the office.

Emile Hallez Williams

Tim Kauffman

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“My phone rang after the election in 2008. … They kept calling, and I realized this might be a really good fit,” said Kauffman, 42, a Westminster resident who served on the city council for seven years, four of which he was mayor pro tem. “This is the first time I’ve served in an elected office that’s also a full-time job.”

Kauffman, who worked previously as vice president of High Plains Bank, said he has worked diligently to safeguard the county’s investments, though the job is not easy. Many aspects of the position are managerial, but the treasurer also functions as a financial adviser to the Board of Commissioners and directs county investments.

“Probably the greatest challenge is financial,” Kauffman said. “We rely greatly on property tax, and property tax goes in two-year cycles. … We will revalue in 2011, which will correlate to our property tax collection in 2012 and 2013.”

The lag in tax collection from property-valuation dates can mean that the county’s revenue is far behind trends. If the current recession improves, a declining housing market could keep Jeffco’s funding low for at least two years to come.

“We are predicting a drop in revenue,” he said. “I can’t imagine a time when county revenues have dropped.”

But Jeffco has been preparing well ahead of time for the anticipated shortfall, Kauffman said, noting that he advises the commissioners on such issues.

Kauffman also currently serves on the county’s benefits oversight committee, pointing to his nomination for the board as a sign that his insight is valued.

“We have a tough mission,” he said of the committee. “Our mission is to define and set benefit plans for the roughly 3,000 county employees.”

Kauffman, who was born in Denver but grew up on a farm in Iowa, earned a degree in communications from Goshen College in Indiana, where he minored in music and business. He later returned to Colorado with his wife, Kimberly. Kauffman is active in his church’s choir and spends the majority of his free time with his family.

Though he had spent only a little over a year in the office before having to campaign for a possible second term, he touts his experience in small government and private-sector banking as training that makes him an ideal candidate. His challenger, Wheat Ridge Treasurer Larry Schulz, also has a history of work in public office.

“I have the local elected office (experience) and … very little controversy, combined with my treasury-management work and banking,” Kauffman said. “I can’t imagine anything better combined to serve in the role of county treasurer.”

Contact Emile Hallez Williams at emile@evergreenco.com or 303-933-2233, ext. 22. 

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