TAX NEWS - June 2010

San Mateo County Tax: Run-off likely in tax collector - treasurer race

California San Mateo County homeowners will have to wait a few more months to find out who they'll be making their next property tax checks out to.

None of the four candidates for the tax collector - treasurer seat won more than 50 percent of the vote Tuesday night.

The two top vote-getters, Deputy Tax Collector - Treasurer Sandie Arnott and San Mateo County Community College District Trustee Dave Mandelkern, will likely face off in November to replace Lee Buffington, who is stepping down after 25 years as the county's money man.

As of midnight with 440 of 456 precincts reporting, Arnott was leading the race with about 38.5 percent of the vote, according to the San Mateo County Elections Office. Mandelkern trailed with roughly 28 percent.

"I'm honored that my record of service and my many accomplishments in the office did not go overlooked," Arnott said in a phone interview, breaking away from a gathering with her family late Tuesday night. "San Mateo County voters clearly recognized the need for an experienced tax collector-treasurer."

Mandelkern echoed Arnott's comments.

"Apparently the voters prefer the background and vision that Ms. Arnott and I had to offer, and we will be going forward in a head-to-head competition in November," he wrote in an e-mail to The Daily News just after midnight.

Former Burlingame mayor Joe Galligan was nipping at Mandelkern's heels with about 25 percent of the vote and investment adviser Richard Guilbault was a distant fourth with roughly 8 percent.

The $155 million hit the county took to its investment pool when Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008 injected controversy into what otherwise might have been a quiet race. Mandelkern and Galligan, in particular, laid some of the blame on Arnott, who has served 20 years with Buffington, most recently as his second-in-command.

"I plan to continue offering my same vision of advocacy for the taxpayers of San Mateo County and will continue to emphasize the need to make a change in the way the Treasurer-Tax Collector's office is run, particularly in light of the fact that the current management lost $155 million of taxpayer's money in the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in September 2008," Mandelkern said in his e-mail.

The tax collector-treasurer is responsible for collecting taxes from every resident and business that owes them and investing the money for the benefit of the county.