From taxes to relaxation

Miller County tax assessor Mary Stuart retires after 38 years of service

Miller County Tax Assessor Mary Stuart sits in a rocking chair she received Thursday during her retirement party, held on the third floor of the courthouse. She is retiring after 38 years of service to the county, 22 of them as tax assessor.
Miller County Tax Assessor Mary Stuart sits in a rocking chair she received Thursday during her retirement party, held on the third floor of the courthouse. She is retiring after 38 years of service to the county, 22 of them as tax assessor.

Family, friends and co-workers of Miller County Tax Assessor Mary Stuart came together Thursday to honor her 38-year career with the county.

Stuart, who has served as tax assessor for 22 years, said she was honored to have so many people come to her retirement celebration at the county courthouse.

"It has been awesome," she said. "I never knew so many thought so much of me. It's been an awesome day. A really awesome day."

Total Assessment Solutions Corporation presented Stuart a rocking chair from Cracker Barrel as a token of appreciation for working with them so many years.

"We want her to try to relax a little bit for a little while," said Hardie Reynolds, who works for the company. He added that he's known Stuart since 1984 and that she will be sorely missed.

"Mary knows us from where we were just cutting our teeth in the business," he said. "She's real patient with us, but she's a world of knowledge, especially on Miller County. She stays active with the assessor's meetings and is up on the latest laws.We're really going to miss her. She's known throughout the state. When you hear Mary Stuart, you think Texarkana, Miller County."

Reynolds said he's still getting used to the idea of Stuart's retirement.

"Here we always thought, Mary didn't have an opponent, she'll be around," he said. "Then all of a sudden, now it's time to retire. It really hasn't set in for any of us. She takes care of us and the county. She's a rock."

Reynolds went on to say Stuart was one of the first female assessors in the state.

"When I got in the business, most of the county assessors were men," Reynolds said. "That started changing. Mary was one of the first ladies and she showed the rest of the state that ladies can do this just as good as a guy, if not better."

Stuart said she has seen many changes in her years as tax assessor and that modernization has played a key role in changing how she did her job.

"Since 1995, we have been on a computerized system," she said. "Before '95 we were handwriting all the assessments and we went to the computers then. It made it easier, yes. A lot of changes."

In her retirement, Stuart said she'll be helping out with family and enjoying spending time with them.

"I'm just gonna be smiling and rocking," she said with a big grin. "Smiling and rocking."

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