It is an honor to be re-elected and serve as your Clerk for the next four years.
Qualifying for the position of Lee County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller ended in late June and I am unopposed for the upcoming term.
This tremendous honor is a testament to the incredible work and dedication of the entire Lee County Clerk’s Office. Together, we've built a foundation of excellence, and I am committed to continuing our journey with even greater enthusiasm and dedication.
As we look forward to the next four years, I’m excited to increase my focus on our top priorities.
A key emphasis of mine is building awareness around the role of Comptroller.
In addition to my role of Clerk of the Circuit Court, I also serve as Lee County’s Comptroller, which means I am the county auditor, county recorder, and custodian of all county funds. This is a very important part of my job, as I am responsible for managing and investing nearly $2 billion of Lee County’s tax dollars annually.
Serving as the Comptroller essentially means I am Lee County’s Chief Financial Officer, and my goal is to ensure we are informing citizens on how their tax dollars are being managed, spent and invested. As the Comptroller, I believe in promoting transparency and shining a light on how tax dollars are being spent – while also applying a checks and balances system.
To get started on bringing more awareness to this crucial function, my team and I recently hosted a first-of-its kind Financial Wellness Summit and expo in Lee County to provide community members with expert tips on improving their overall financial wellness in addition to information on how their tax dollars are being used. We brought in financial experts to present, and I spoke about Lee County investments and the state of county finances. We received a great response from our attendees and I plan on making this an annual event.
Highlighting the role of County Auditor is another one of my priorities. Part of serving as your Clerk and Comptroller includes this duty, which I am looking to transform and grow.
As Lee County’s Auditor, our office’s Inspector General Department currently audits the Board of County Commissioners and Lee County Port Authority, and last summer – the Lee County School Board approved a one-time audit consultation project provided by our office to improve the Board's internal controls.
The project's focus is to provide value-added recommendations and to strengthen operational policies, procedures and practices. The audit is designed to promote transparency, enhance public trust, and protect taxpayer funds. It, along with the others, is conducted at no-cost by our Inspector General Department.
I look forward to increasing awareness around auditing and expanding this function in the future.
Other priorities that we have worked hard on over the past two years, and will continue to push forward, include cybersecurity, and of course – property fraud.
We continually invest in cybersecurity to keep Lee County’s records safe. We’ve already hardened our infrastructure through state grants, upgraded our courts and records management system, increased team member cybersecurity exercises and trainings, and implemented multi-factor authentication. We will continue to bolster our systems by consistently researching and implementing the most up-to-date security enhancements to keep our systems safe.
As you know, the fight against property fraud is something I’m extremely passionate about. It’s been just over a year since the Property Fraud Prevention Pilot Program was signed into law, and we’ve made great progress. I couldn’t be prouder that Lee County was chosen to be the state’s pilot program.
The pilot lasts for two years and we are halfway complete. We are working on building out how the process will work for other counties throughout the state, and I’m excited to deliver a report to the legislature in January 2025 about the results of the program.
The past two years have been incredibly successful, and I’m honored to have four more years to accomplish my vision. It is truly a privilege to serve you and Lee County.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at kkarnes@leeclerk.org.
Cheers to four more years of growth, innovation and success!
Kevin
