Riley County is proud to announce Shilo Heger has received the 2022 Betty J. McBride Outstanding Kansas Treasurer Award! The Kansas County Treasurer’s Association (KCTA) presented the award to Heger at their spring meeting. Shilo has been an outstanding leader and professional of the highest caliber in the Riley County community since she was first elected to the office in 2014.
“I was so honored to receive the award. The people here are like family, so anything I can do to support them and make their lives easier is very important to me,” said Heger.
KCTA praised Shilo’s ability to lead the Treasurer’s Department with passion, intelligence, and connection. She uses innovation to facilitate new processes to better serve the public, and she shares her experience and expertise to assist offices across the state. Shilo has made a positive impact on the Riley County community.
“The Treasurer’s Office is typically the ‘face’ of the county. We interact with almost every resident at some point for vehicle registrations, tax payments, or other services. Sometimes, we’re the only local government representatives people see in person, so I want to make sure those conversations are friendly, helpful, and that our office represents the county well,” said Heger.
The Treasurer’s Office is always looking for ways to improve. They recently added a front desk staff person to help direct customers to the right department and assist with the check-in process. They worked to get authorization to perform some state functions in addition to their regular duties, such as drivers license renewals and commercial vehicle transactions. The extra responsibilities were added to make the process more convenient for residents, sometimes even saving them a trip to Topeka.
The department often goes out of their way to be helpful and they consistently get positive reviews on Google. It’s common to see people leaving the office with smiles – which is not what most people expect. We’re grateful for Shilo’s hard work, excellent leadership, and dedication to public service. We are proud of her excellent record and thankful for the opportunity to celebrate her accomplishments.
Well done, Shilo!