OCT 2026 Scott County Treasurer Office Webpage
The incumbent Scott County Treasurer, Tony Knobbe has served since 2023, and last fiscal year was paid $102,313 plus benefits. Knobbe is not running for re-election and there are two candidates for a single seat that has a four-year term, Greg Guy and Samuel Samara. Responses are in alphabetical order by family name.
1) By Appointment Only?
Do you agree with the current treasurers' decisions to maintain the “by appointment only” way to access the county treasurers' customer service windows implemented during COVID as the standard operating policy? If yes, why? If no, what will you do to make the treasurer's customer service counters more accessible without an appointment?
Greg Guy: Since I have not officially started the Treasurer’s job yet, I can only give you my perspective as a resident. Personally, the appointment system has saved me a great deal of time. In the past, I have waited for a couple of hours to be helped. The appointment system has made the process much more convenient and hassle-free.
It also appears that not only are the residents happier with the new system, but the employees seem to be as well. Less stress can lead to happier employees, which in turn can contribute to greater productivity. Ultimately, this can result in higher satisfaction among both residents and employees with the operation of the office. My one concern is how the office handles emergencies. My son-in-law, who is in the military, had an emergency situation, and the office was able to take care of it on the day he was in town. So, there must already be a system in place for urgent or emergency walk-in situations.
If there is not a clear process in place, I would recommend working with the team to establish one so that genuine emergencies can still be handled promptly while maintaining the appointment system for regular services.
Samuel Samara: I disagree with the prior Treasurer's choice of "by appointment only" as the best customer-focused option. If elected I would work to modify the "by appointment only" policy to restore walk-in options at both locations. The appointment system allows for better workflow in the office and presentation of online options to reduce the need to visit in person. However, the appointment system misses the mark for customers needing appointment flexibility, or those without easy access to technology.
2) Paul Revere Square vs Country Store
Do you agree with the current treasurer and county board of supervisor's decision to acquire and rehabilitate/remodel office and customer service space at tax payer expense at Paul Revere Square off Kimberly and Jersey Ridge Road in Davenport, and not renewing the lease with the Iowa DOT for the County Store (adjacent to the Iowa Department Motor Vehicles ) off West Kimberly Road in Davenport? If yes, why? If no, why not and what would you do differently?
Greg Guy: Now, this one seems like a no-brainer to me. They definitely needed a new location. Over the past few years, there have been eight water main breaks, roof leaks, and even a vehicle that fell into a sinkhole because of one of those water main breaks. There have also been reports of the front doors falling off their hinges and some undesirable activity going on behind the building. You have to believe all these problems caused a lot of downtime at the facility. And more importantly, they inconvenienced our residents and interfered with the productivity of the people working there. So, the question is, do you sign another lease and hope the problems get fixed, or do you look for a new location? Now, I know we’ve got a lot of smart, experienced people working for our county. That’s one of the reasons we’re one of the best counties in the state. So I’d be willing to bet that the county supervisors and the treasurer have done their homework and compared the long-term costs of leasing another building versus buying and rehabbing a new property.
I’m assuming they looked at the numbers and decided that purchasing and converting the property at Paul Revere Square made good financial sense. Otherwise, why would they have made that decision? Now, I don’t have access to all the inside information, and I’m not the treasurer yet, so I’m looking at this from the outside. But based on what we’ve seen at the Country Store, I can certainly understand why finding a new location would be the direction to go.
Samuel Samara: I agree with Scott County's choice to acquire a new location for the future Scott County General Store. My thoughts are mixed on the choice of the Paul Revere space. It's important to mention that the existing location was a shared space under lease with the Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) and the Scott County Treasurer's Office.
That location behind the Village Shopping Center has had many problems over the years, necessitating a new location. Recently a major water main issue inside the building forced Scott County to relocate all operations back downtown. The roof has had significant leaking problems, the office was difficult to find, and it has experienced crime issues. IDOT had planned to move to a new location for just their driver's license operations within a year. Upon IDOT's departure, Scott County would have become responsible for the full lease of a subpar facility in a bad location. It would have been twice the size and cost needed for their operation.
The expectation would be to find a new appropriately sized location that is more accessible and safer for customers. The Paul Revere Square location is centrally located and meets most of the desired criteria for a new location. Where it falls short, in my opinion, is affordability. Additional storefront locations were available that would have needed less remodeling. Research could have been done on more cost-effective options. My understanding is that IDOT didn't give much notice of their intentions to vacate the current space. This limited Scott County's time to find a location and complete construction work before move-in would be needed.
3) Public Hours
Will you maintain current Treasurer service windows open for business hours of Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Tuesday from 8 a.m. to noon? If not, how would you modify them?
Greg Guy: Now, as for as public hours go, I haven't been sworn into the position yet, so I can only go by what I'm seeing and hearing. Everything I've seen and heard so far, it sounds like that things are running pretty smoothly. Once I'm in the position, I'll have a better understanding of how things are working day to day. If I find that circumstances have changed or that adjustments are needed, we will take a look at what's best for the county and make changes if necessary. But for now, based on what I know, I do not see a reason to make changes just for sake to make them.
Samuel Samara: If elected I would work on a plan to modify hours at the new Paul Revere office to accommodate flexibility for customers. Ideally, a couple days a week we would be open until 6:00 PM to help customers needing a later option, and open at 7:00 AM for those needing an early option. We would also collect customer feedback to see where we need to adjust times most to meet customer expectations. The downtown location hours are more tied to the Scott County Administrative building's 8:00 to 4:30 schedule, so that location would likely not see a change in schedule.
See also:
