Albright decides to run again for tax collector

George Albright has served as tax collector since he was first elected in 2004.

George Albright has expressed that he intends to run for reelection for the office of Marion County Tax Collector in the 2024 election.

Albright, 64, is currently serving his 19^th year as tax collector, as he was first elected in 2004. He has run unopposed since 2012. If elected, this will be his sixth four-year term.

“I’m committed to my employees, I’m committed to the public and I wasn’t ready to give up that bond,” Albright said.

Albright, a Republican, has not yet filed his candidacy but said he plans to do so in early October. No other candidates have filed to run against him at this time.

“I spent the last few months doing a lot of thinking, praying about it, talked to my wife and talked to my friends,” Albright said. “I was almost universally encouraged to run again.”

Albright succeeded Thomas “Mac” Olsen, who previously served as tax collector for 34 years and stepped down from the position due to health concerns. Olsen died of cancer in 2014.

Among Albright’s priorities if reelected are continuing to hire new employees and continuing the office’s history of raising funds for charity.

“Last year, we raised and gave Interfaith Emergency Services over $35,000 in cash and in-kind contributions,” Albright said. “I’m very committed to continuing to use this office for charitable purposes for the community.”

This figure comes from charitable activity held in and out of the tax collector offices throughout the year.

The tax collector’s office holds an annual car show, which tends to collect about $15,000 for donations, about $5,000of which was given to Interfaith Emergency Services and its Food 4 Kids program, according to Louann DeSantis, charities coordinator for the Marion County Tax Collector’s Office.

Other causes supported by the office are hurricane relief efforts for Florida, disaster relief in Hawaii, the war in Ukraine, breast cancer research, Race Across America and Harvest Home, Desantis said.

Albright said he is as focused as ever on keeping a full staff and continuing to fill any job vacancies that arise.

“It’s a great challenge to keep all of our seats filled, or to fill them and keep them filled. And we’re always fighting that,” he said.

Albright said the agency distributes colorful “now hiring” flyers whenever the office is looking for new recruits at any of its eight locations, and that the reach has yielded impressive results.

“When you’re ready to hire, you start putting (flyers) out there and in a couple of weeks, you’ve got 50 or 100 applicants,” he said.

Albright said he hopes to continue employing well-trained, hardworking citizens to help him and his staff continue their work into the next term if he is re-elected.