Tara Thomas, 52, who was first elected Gloucester County Treasurer in 1999, is seeking a seventh term in the office. The Republican incumbent is unopposed in her reelection bid.

In announcing her plans Thomas said, “I have been honored to serve the citizens of Gloucester County as Treasurer for the last 23 years. In that time, my staff and I have endeavored to provide excellent service to the citizens of the county while operating as efficiently and effectively as possible.”

During her tenure, Thomas has worked to improve service to citizens by expanding the means for making payments to the county. “I want citizens to be able to do business with the Treasurer’s Office on their timeline, not ours,” she said. “This means being able to make payments in the office during regular business hours, utilizing the mail or our drop box, or online 24/7.”

Over the course of the last few years, Thomas has worked collaboratively with the county’s Department of Information Technology and the Commissioner of the Revenue in the successful implementation of new tax and receipting software. In addition to providing opportunities for continued process improvement, the new software includes a Citizen Self-Service portal allowing citizen access to public real estate tax information and secure access to personal property tax information.

A 1992 graduate of the College of William and Mary with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance, Thomas received her certification as a Master Governmental Treasurer from the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service in 2003, and has received numerous awards from the Treasurers’ Association of Virginia.

Under her leadership, the Gloucester Treasurer’s Office has been accredited since 2003. Thomas and her husband, Brook, and their daughter Haley, live in Hayes.