Colorado Treasurer
| Colorado Treasurer | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Office Type: | Partisan |
| Office website: | Official Link |
| Term limits: | None |
| Structure | |
| Length of term: | 4 years |
| Authority: | Colorado Constitution, Article IV, Section 1 |
| Selection Method: | Elected |
| Current Officeholder | |
 | |
| Name: | Walker Stapleton |
| Officeholder Party: | Republican |
| Assumed office: | January 11, 2011 |
| Compensation: | $68,500 |
| Elections | |
| Next election: | November 4, 2014 |
| Last election: | November 2, 2010 |
| Other Colorado Executive Offices | |
| Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Controller • Commissioner of Education • Agriculture Commissioner • Insurance Commissioner • Natural Resources Exec. Director • Labor Executive Director • Public Utilities Commission | |
Contents |
Current officeholder
The current treasurer is Walker Stapleton, who was first elected in November 2010 and took office on January 11, 2011. He will next come up for re-election in November 2014, if he chooses to run.
Before his election as treasurer, Stapleton was CEO of Sonoma West Holds Inc., a commercial real estate company. From 2004 to 2005, he was Director of Real Estate Acquisitions for Lamar Companies, a real estate investment firm. He was Director of Business Development for media company Live365.com from 2001 to 2003 and was an investment banker with the firm of Hambrecht & Quist from 1997 to 1999. Stapleton holds a B.A. from Williams College, a master's from the London School of Economics and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.[1]
Authority
The state constitution establishes the office of treasurer in Article IV, the Executive Department.
Colorado Constitution, Article IV, Section 1
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(1) The executive department shall include the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, and attorney general, each of whom shall hold his office for the term of four years, commencing on the second Tuesday of January in the year 1967, and each fourth year thereafter. They shall perform such duties as are prescribed by this constitution or by law. |
Qualifications
Treasurers must be at least 25 years old, a citizen of the United States and a resident of Colorado for two years preceding election.
Colorado Constitution, Article IV, Section 4
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No person shall be eligible to the office of governor or lieutenant governor unless he shall have attained the age of thirty years, nor to the office of secretary of state or state treasurer unless he shall have attained the age of twentyfive years... no person shall be eligible to any one of said offices unless, in addition to the qualifications above prescribed therefore, he shall be a citizen of the United States, and have resided within the limits of the state two years next preceding his election. |
Elections
Treasurers are elected to four year terms during federal midterm election years (2006, 2010, 2014, etc.). The candidate that earns a plurality of the votes is the winner, and, per Article IV, Section 1 of the state constitution, he assumes office on the second Tuesday of January in the year following his election.
Colorado Constitution, Article IV, Section 1
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(1) The executive department shall include the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, and attorney general, each of whom shall hold his office for the term of four years, commencing on the second Tuesday of January in the year 1967, and each fourth year thereafter. |
Term limits
Per the Colorado Term Limits Act (1990), treasurers, like all statewide constitutional officers, are limited to two consecutive terms in office. Former officeholders may run again after one term out of office. Serving more than one half of a term as an appointed replacement as attorney general counts as a full term.
Vacancies
If the office of treasurer becomes vacant, the governor appoints a replacement with the consent of the Senate. The replacement serves until the next election. If the vacancy occurs while the Senate is out of session, the appointee serves until it can meet.
Colorado Constitution, Article IV, Section 6
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(2) If the office of state treasurer, secretary of state, or attorney general shall be vacated by death, resignation, or otherwise, the governor shall nominate and, by and with the consent of the senate, appoint a successor. The appointee shall hold the office until his successor shall be elected and qualified in such manner as may be provided by law. If the vacancy occurs in any such office while the senate is not in session, the governor shall appoint some fit person to discharge the duties thereof until the next meeting of the senate, when he shall nominate and, by and with the consent of the senate, appoint some fit person to fill such office. |
Duties
The treasurer is the state's cash management officer and head of the Department of Treasury, which accounts for and manages the Colorado government's money. The treasury receives all revenues in the form of taxes, fees and other payments, disburses money based on warrants (checks), and manages the state's investment funds. As in many states, the treasurer also manages the state's unclaimed property fund.
Divisions
- Accounting - The Accounting Division pays cash out of the treasury in response to warrants drawn against the state. It also manages funds received by state agencies and transfers money between "instrumentalities of the state when directed by the State Legislature."[2]
- Investments - The Investments Division manages the state's investment funds with a strategy that is "safe, prudent, and appropriate for the public purpose of each fund.[3]
- Cash Management - The Cash Management Division manages state receipts and disbursements; it seeks to expedite the deposit of revenues and pay obligations as close to the due date as possible. It also hopes to introduce efficiencies into treasury operations, including the use of credit cards, automated clearinghouse payments, and electronic, rather than paper, transactions.
- Administration.
- The Great Colorado Payback - The state's unclaimed property fund.
- School District Intercept Program - Works towards the timely payment of bonds issued by school districts.
- Charter School Intercept and Moral Obligation Program - Redirects some state funds to help pay debt service on charter school bonds, when available.
- Interest-Free School Loan Program - Issues interest-free loans to school districts to "alleviate temporary general fund cash flow deficits."
- Senior and Veteran Property Tax Programs - Helps senior citizens defer payments of their property taxes and special assessments.
- CHFA Loan Program - Provides loans to small businesses, farms and ranches within Colorado. Cooperates with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Rural Business Cooperative Service.
Compensation
In 2010, the attorney general received compensation in the amount of $68,500.[4] The attorney general's salary, like that of all state constitutional officers, is determined by law and changes in it do not take effect until the current officeholder's term ends.
Contact Information
Physical address:
Colorado State Treasurer's Office
140 State Capitol
Denver, CO 80203
Phone: (303) 866-2441
See also
External links
References
- ↑ The Business Word, "Interview: Walker Stapleton would make fixing PERA top priority as Colorado Treasurer," February 24, 2010.
- ↑ Colorado Department of the Treasury, "Accounting," accessed July 14, 2011.
- ↑ Colorado Department of the Treasury, "Investments," accessed July 14, 2011.
- ↑ The Council of State Governments, "Book of the States 2010 -- Table 4.11," accessed July 13, 2011.
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