What is a County Collector?

by Kristin Higgins - May 2, 2022

Are you looking at your sample ballot for the Nov. 8 Arkansas election? There are a lot of jobs on the ballot that people might not know what they do.

Today we highlight the job of a county tax collector.

County Collector in Arkansas

This tax collecting job might appear on your ballot under the “Collector” heading.

Depending on your county, the collector role might be combined with the sheriff or treasurer position on the ballot. 

The county collector is one of nine executives in county government.

Term in Office: A constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2016 changed the term of a county collector from two years to four years. The pay for the job varies depending on the population of the county, and is set by the Quorum Court.

The Association of Arkansas Counties reported salaries ranging from about $16,298 to $116,000 in their 2021 county government salary survey. Counties that reported a low salary were for part-time positions where the person is also paid for another role in county government.

Eligibility Requirements:

• United States citizen
• At least 18 years old
• Registered to vote in their county
• No fraud or felony convictions

Job Duties:

Over their four-year term, a county tax collector is responsible for:

• Sending out tax bills to all property owners in the county
• Collecting tax payments owed to county, city, school, improvement districts
• Turning over the tax payments to the county treasurer every month
• Preparing a list every year of people who haven’t paid their taxes to publish in the newspaper
• In counties where there is a combined sheriff-collector position, the office also collects court fines

Look at Your November Ballot

Early voting starts Oct. 24 and Election Day is Nov. 8. Find out what is on your ballot at the Arkansas Secretary of State's VoterView website, https://www.voterview.ar-nova.org/VoterView. 

Use our 2022 Arkansas Ballot Issues Voter Guide to learn about the constitutional amendments on this year's ballot.

Additional Reading

Arkansas County Collectors 2022 Procedures Manual - Association of Arkansas Counties