COMMON SENSE CHANGE

About SHARI L. FREIDENRICH, CPA

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Shari Freidenrich was elected as the Orange County Treasurer in November 2010 with almost 55% of the vote and re-elected as the Orange County Treasurer in June 2014 after running unopposed. Prior to her work with the County of Orange, Shari was the Elected City Treasurer for the City of Huntington Beach from 1996 to 2010. Prior to her public service, Shari was a Controller for McDonnell Douglas Travel Company, a division of the former McDonnell Douglas Corporation (now Boeing Corporation). She also worked for McDonnell Douglas Corporation as an Auditing Specialist. She started her career with Deloitte & Touche, an international accounting firm.


She holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Washington State University in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting and graduated summa cum laude. Shari is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) as well as a Certified California Municipal Treasurer (CCMT), Certified Public Finance Administrator (CPFA) and Advanced Certified Public Finance Investment Manager (ACPFIM).  She is also a past President for the Association of Public Treasurers of the United States and Canada and is a Past President of the California Municipal Treasurer's Association. She is known as a leader in her community and is a past President of the Rotary Club of Huntington Beach, a past president of Soroptimist International of Huntington Beach and was awarded their Women of Distinction in Economics and Social Development in 2006, is a member of the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce and various other local organizations. Shari is also the past President of the Alumni Association for Washington State University and as President attended the Board of Regents meetings for Washington State University. Shari currently serves on the Board of Directors for Washington State University Foundation and is currently serving as the Audit Committee Chair.  Shari received the Washington State University Alumni Achievement Award for her significant service to Washington State University and for her contributions to her community and profession. Shari believes that giving back to her community is very important.

Shari is also a local leader in the financial field.  Shari was instrumental in starting first ever Financial Planning Day in Orange County, a nationwide event now held annually in over 20 cities and annually partners with the Financial Planning Association of Orange County to help promote the event.  In 2013, Shari was awarded a “Rose Award” from the OC Taxpayer’s Association for her work in streamlining property tax payments and saving taxpayer funds.  She was also nominated for a Rose Award in 2016.  She was honored in 2016 as an honorary member of the Orange County Association of Realtors for her work in transparency in Property taxes.  Shari was the winner of the Leadership Award for Public Service in 2016 from the Orange County Business Council for her work in cutting red tape and providing red carpet service.  Finally, Shari was just selected in 2016 by the Orange County Business Journal in their inaugural OC 500, a list honoring the most influential individuals in Orange County as a governmental representative who has contributed to the community of business.
 

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Shari’s Common Sense Changes at the County of Orange saved over $20 million in operations and over $800 million in pension related costs since she became Orange County Treasurer in January 2011.  These include:

  • Eliminating full color property tax bills saving 25% on printing costs
  • Posting prior year’s property tax bills online eliminating thousands of incoming taxpayer calls
  • Lowering convenience fees for taxpayers, saving over $1.2 million in a single year for taxpayers
  • Increasing the use of the no-cost eCheck payment option the most cost effective payment option, by over 100%  
  • Refunding three years of overcharged investment fees, returning $2.8 million to investors
  • Saving over $14 million related to school bond financing costs by exposing poor fiscal practice of Convertible Appreciation bonds (CABs)
  • Saving over $1.2 million in bond interest and costs of issuance for school districts
  • Updating the tax payments webpage to allow for payments from international taxpayers for credit cards
  • Redesigning the Treasurer’s website, facilitating easy 24/7 self service
  • Returning over $40,000 in unclaimed funds to taxpayers by using Department tools to locate taxpayer contact information
  • Incurring no investment losses on the County’s pooled investments and focusing on safety and liquidity in developing investment strategies
  • Streamlining transaction processing for voluntary pool participants and County agencies
  • Redesigning the tax bill sent to taxpayers whose taxes are paid through an impound account reducing the cost of the tax bills mailed
  • Reducing incoming taxpayer phone calls by over 30,000 or 33% annually by providing  information 24/7 on the web
  • Adding an online payment site, ocpayment.com, for online payment by credit card of Agency invoices collected by the Treasurer
  • Redesigning agency invoices and delinquent letters to streamline processing that reduces costs charged to agencies for collection services
  • Enhancing reporting property tax debt on tax bills by consolidating all tax amounts into one line for each taxing Agency, but also providing detailed breakdown by each bond issue online or by phone
  • Implementing additional credit card payment processors for agency invoices using a Master State Contract that is expected to save the County thousands of dollars in processing fees
  • Adding tax reminder services for the monthly investment report, unsecured taxes, and tax auction that thousands of taxpayers have signed up for
  • Adding physical location to online tax bills versus just having the APN
  • Doubling the number of subscribers to the secured tax bill reminder, potentially saving thousands of taxpayers from paying a 10% late payment fee
  • Increasing the collection rate on secured property tax bills to 99%, the highest collection rate found recorded
  • Saving future taxpayers over $625 million by voting to eliminate negative amortization from pension plan payment schedules