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Tony Smee said Monday he accepted a new job at PMA, a firm that manages investments for public agencies in Missouri. He said his decision to leave ӣ����Ƶ County didn’t have to do with his duties there.

“This was about an opportunity for me,” to provide another form of public service, Smee said.

His last day was Friday.

Smee began working as the director of the Department of Revenue in December 2023.

The department helps manage property taxes, issues licenses and distributes money to other county agencies. But Smee became known for launching the county’s popular senior tax freeze program.

He oversaw hiccups along the way.

Last year, Smee successfully lobbied the ӣ����Ƶ County Council for additional money to pay for staff and software to handle tax freeze applications. After demand overwhelmed the application system, he oversaw a software upgrade.

Roughly 70,000 people have submitted applications to the program.

This past winter, the department struggled to process mailed property tax payments because of delivery delays by the U.S. Postal Service and a staffing shortage in the county collector’s office.

The revenue department often receives tens of thousands of tax payments per week in tax payment season. But in January, it didn’t receive any mail one week and only a few thousand the following week. Then it received tens of thousands on other days, creating a backlog.

The department cleared the backlog by early February, but the problems caused frustration among taxpayers who incurred fees for late payment despite sending their checks on time.

Before working for the county, Smee served as chief appraiser for the Cape Girardeau County assessor.

Before Smee, Scott Lakin ran the department. He retired in September 2023 after less than a year on the job.

The county’s deputy director in the revenue department, Erica Savage, will serve as acting director until County Executive Sam Page appoints a replacement for Smee.