County Treasurer

Thursday, Aug. 15, 2002 | 9 a.m.

Incumbent Clark County Treasurer Laura Fitzpatrick has two challengers -- Republican Lewis Byer and Independent American Rebecca Perry -- in her re-election bid. None of the candidates have any opponents in the primary.

The county treasurer is responsible for the billing, collection and disbursement of all property taxes and other county funds, as well as managing county investment portfolios.

A Democrat, Fitzpatrick is in her first elected term in office, having first been appointed by the county commissioners in March 1998. She has more than 20 years of experience in accounting and finance, having been licensed as a certified public accountant in 1983. She worked as a deputy state treasurer in Michigan and as director of Intergovernment Relations for what is now the Bond Mark Association before coming to the Las Vegas office of the private accounting firm Deloitte & Touche.

She has directed the planning and management of a new project to replace the 30-year-old tax billing and collection system. The new program includes a comprehensive database and makes phone and Web-based access to tax information easier.

Byer has worked in finance, funerals and food for the last 30 years, owning several of his own businesses and serving as chief executive for a number of private corporations, the federal government and several casinos. He was one of the founding stock holders in the Boston Chicken Corp., now known as Boston Market, and helped found the Las Vegas Downtown Central Development Committee to clean up crime on Fremont Street seven years ago.