Accountant, insurance agent seek Lackawanna County treasurer post

Apr. 24—Lackawanna County government will have a new treasurer in January and two Democrats are the only candidates to replace retiring Ed Karpovich.

J.R. Refice said his experience as an agent at Alberigi Insurance Agency gives him the skills necessary to do the job.

"I crunch numbers, I work in numbers. This is something that I do every day," Refice said. "I know how to run a business. I think we need somebody who has a business acumen. That's why I'm doing this."

Angela Rempe Jones said her decades of experience as an accountant and longtime state legislative staffer make her right for the job.

"I really feel that the treasurer's office is like a true intersection of where the two career paths meet," Jones said.

No Republican is on the ballot in the May 16 primary election, but Republicans may nominate someone through at least 250 write-in votes.

Karpovich, treasurer since January 1992, announced in February he would step down after eight terms. Treasurers serve four-year terms and earn $77,414 a year.

Refice said he discussed running for treasurer with his grandfather, the late former County Commissioner Ray Alberigi, before he died but didn't expect Karpovich to retire this year.

"I say, when I'm campaigning, (that) we're looking for our next chief financial officer," he said.

He will have three main goals if elected. The treasurer sits on the county pension board and Refice said a priority will be ensuring the county's pension system is properly funded. For years, the county contributed less to the pension fund than recommended.

"I think it's important that we ... do as much as we can to efficiently manage it and to grow it as best as possible," he said. "We've got to make sure that we're investing properly (and) we're getting the best return for that."

The treasurer must also manage unspent taxpayer dollars, and Refice said he will work to invest the money to produce the best return. He said the Pennsylvania Local Government Investment Trust usually offers the best interest rates because it is designed to offer governments flexibility in keeping invested money available to pay expenses.

He also wants to ensure delinquent taxes collected by the county Tax Claim Bureau reach local governments as quickly as possible.

"That gets money back in the hands of school districts and municipalities, which then in turn benefits our businesses, residents ... improving education for our kids ... infrastructure projects and parks," he said.

Rempe Jones, who once worked for the international accounting firm Coopers & Lybrand, said her skills fit the treasurer's job perfectly.

"You're handling the county's money, collections in, disbursements out. You're managing the county's pension system," she said. "So with my background, managing a whole accounting department, I've done those things. I like doing those things. I'm a very meticulous person."

After 32 years with one person running the office, procedures likely need fresh eyes, Rempe Jones said, adding she doesn't intend that as an insult. She foresees further automating office services, including potentially refining the existing online dog license application system. Like Refice, she wants to ensure people and municipalities owed money get it as quickly as possible and that available, unspent money is invested wisely, she said.

"My first priority is to make sure that it's running as efficiently and effectively as possible, and staffed properly and all the systems and the processes are up to date and running as efficiently as possible," she said. "I set up and ran three different offices. (Former state Rep.) Marty Flynn's, (former state Rep.) Thom Welby's and ... now (state Rep.) Kyle Donahue. ... Taking my experience of what I've done in the last three offices and bringing it to the treasurer's office, I feel as though I will be the one to make the improvements. ... If there are improvements to be made and ways to make it more efficient, I feel as though I'm the most qualified to do that."

She also said she will work to make growing the county's pensions funds a top priority so employees get "the retirement they deserve."

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9147; @BorysBlogTT on Twitter.