Sabra Barnes is a candidate for Blaine County Treasurer. She was born in Texas but moved to Watonga as a baby. She is a 1999 graduate of Watonga High School. Following graduation, she spent two years in Nashville. She married Nick Barnes in 2000. The couple has a daughter and two grandchildren.
Barnes managed the FStop in Watonga, then went to work at Watonga State Bank part time. During the same time period, she worked part time for the county treasurer’s office. In 2004, Barnes went to work at the treasurer's office full time and worked there for 21 years.
She chose not to run for office in 2022 because of her health concerns, she said, but reported she is in remission from that illness for the last three years. “I feel great,” she said.
In 2023 Barnes went to work in the court clerk’s office.
She said she has decided to run for the treasurer’s office because she loves the county.
“I love the constituents. I love when they come in confused and angry and leave with a smile on their face,” she said. That change in attitude on the part of the client, she said, is because they haven’t been educated on what they were angry about.
Changes Barnes said she will undertake are myriad. One is the tax statements.
“I will not hire out the production and mailing of the ad valorem tax statements,” she said, instead doing the work in house.
Another item Barnes wants to take up is school appropriations.
“I understand how important it is for schools to receive their appropriations timely,” she said. She wants to work with entities on their budgets so the collections are made and sent to the schools before January. At least half of a property tax bill is due by December 31.
Barnes said the school districts sometimes need assistance to get their estimate of needs to the county on time. She also hopes to get the tax statements out faster. “This gives the taxpayers the opportunity to budget ahead of time,” she said. “And the sooner you have the funds come in the better it is for everybody.”
Something else Barnes wants to work on is courthouse unity. “All the elected officials need to work as a team. I have a good relationship with the elected officials and working together as a team creates a stronger county government,” she said.
Barnes has served as the treasurer for the Friends of the Library, is a member of the Watonga Community Theatre and has also served as the treasurer of her bowling league. She has trained with the treasurer’s office when she worked there and anticipates training as part of the job.