Mills County Auditor Carol Robertson To Retire; Supervisors Accept Resignation

Mills County will have a new auditor on August 1.

On Tuesday, the Mills County Board of Supervisors approved the resignation of Carol Robertson, who is retiring after serving in the county auditor position for nearly 24 years. Her last official day on the job will be July 31.

“To be honest with you, I’m really in great health right now and I’ve got some really close friends that are not,” Robertson said during an interview on Thursday. “I guess I kind of want to enjoy life while I’m healthy and I can.

“I’m getting older. It’s probably time to hand the reins over to somebody a little bit younger.”

Robertson has worked in the auditor’s office since November 1989. She was appointed county auditor in September 1999,  replacing her predecessor and boss Cheryll Ross, who left the post to take a position in the Pottawattamie County Auditor’s Office. Robertson, a Republican, won her first election in 2000 and was re-elected in 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020. She was opposed only once - in 2012.

The board of supervisors had the option of appointing Robertson’s replacement or calling for a special election. The board has chosen to appoint the next auditor. Robertson is recommending the appointment of Ami Petersen, who has worked in the office for about a year.

“There’s a lot to this job,” Robertson said. “I think even after one year of training, some of my people are kind of overwhelmed.”

The public does have a right to petition for a special election before and after the county supervisors make their appointment. About 565 signatures would be needed on the petition.

Robertson has seen and experienced a lot of changes in the county auditor’s role during her tenure in office, including changes to state election and property tax laws. She has been openly critical of property tax changes passed in the Iowa Legislature earlier this year and conceded the ongoing changes, which she said put more pressure on counties and add responsibilities to the auditor’s office, played a part in her decision to retire.

“I am so frustrated with the legislature and the things that they have done – where they’re pushing the counties,” she said. “It’s going to be really hard to fight back against some of that stuff. 

“Things have changed so much. The election laws, the budgeting process, the valuation process - the TIF (Tax Increment Financing) process has changed a lot as well. The state must have a lot of faith in us (auditors) because they think we can do it all. Every time something new comes along, we get it.”

Robertson is a Mills County native and graduate of Glenwood Community High School. Prior to coming to the auditor’s office, she worked for a local attorney while earning her associate’s degree from Iowa Western Community College. After getting her degree, she accepted a position at Security National Bank in Omaha, where she worked until her youngest daughter was born. That’s when she applied for an opening in the auditor’s office.

“I loved my job at the bank but I had my youngest at that time and it was really hard,” she said. “I was looking for a job you could stay at for as long as you could. It had great benefits and it was so great to be back home.”

There have been many memorable events and elections in Mills County during Robertson’s time as auditor, most notably the 2019 Missouri River flood that devastated the Pacific Junction area and displaced hundreds of residents in western Mills County. The county auditor’s office coordinated the financial relief effort for flood victims and was heavily involved with coordinating the buyout of affected properties in unincorporated areas.

“The flood was the biggest thing because of where I grew up (in that area),” Robertson said. “It was a negative and a positive – it was satisfying to be able to help a lot of people out.”
Last summer, Robertson was recognized with a special award from the Iowa State Association Of Counties (ISAC) for her efforts and the work of employees in her office that provided assistance and guidance to victims of the 2019 flood.

Robertson said one of her primary goals before leaving office is to close the file on the county’s flood response and responsibilities.

“We should have the flood closed out – all the projects and accounting for all the money that came in and the money that went out to make sure everything went according to the way it was supposed to,”  she said.

Some of the more memorable elections for Robertson were the challenging 2020 general election held during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2009 Glenwood Community School District vote on an Instructional

Support Levy that failed when the vote ended in a 434-434 tie. There was also the successful vote for a new Mills County Jail in 2012.

“COVID was the worst election cycle we had to go through,” she said. “It was awful.”

Robertson said travel and more family time are in her retirement plans.

Robertson is believed to be the longest-serving auditor in the county’s history. Her 24 years surpassed Glen Johnson, who served from 1960-1980.

A public retirement reception for Robertson is planned for Friday, June 30, from 1 – 4 p.m., at the Mills County Courthouse.