News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Alpena County Treasurer Kim Ludlow, left, works with Deputy Treasurer Cindy Cebula in the Treasurer’s Office on Friday. Ludlow will not seek another term later this year and voters will decide her replacement during the upcoming elections in August and November.

ALPENA — Alpena County will have a new treasurer after the November election, as current county Treasurer Kim Ludlow has decided to not seek reelection.

Ludlow, first elected in 2012, is the most tenured county official, but she said the long hours needed to perform the job make it difficult to commit to another term when she could use the extra time to spend with family and enjoy her other interests.

“If I commit to run for another term, that means I’m committing myself to another four years, and I don’t feel like I have another four years to give,” she said. “The long days, 50 to 60 hours a week, is just something I don’t want to do anymore.”

Lulow said she intends to remain in the Alpena area and intends to spend more time with family. She said that, when her term ends at the end of the year, she will take about six months off to clear her head and contemplate her next move.

“I’m fortunate enough that my children and grandchildren live here in Alpena, so I will definitely enjoy spending a little extra time with them,” she said.

When voters elected her more than a decade ago, Ludlow was surrounded by other elected officials who had worked at the courthouse or served on the county Board of Commissioners for many years. She said that, as the years passed, many of those people have moved on. Before she knew it, she had become the senior county executive, in terms of years served.

“There has been turnover from the Board of Commissioners, the clerk, and many more,” Ludlow said. “There was a lot of transition, and there is still transition.”

Ludlow said she has enjoyed her time serving as treasurer and many of the people she has worked with at the county courthouse and some residents whom she has helped over the years. She added that working with and for people comes with challenges, however.

“What will I miss the most? The people,” she said. “What will I miss the least? The people. You can’t please everybody, no matter what you do or how hard you try. I’ve worked with a lot of great elected officials, appointed people, and employees who really care a lot, and I will especially miss them.”

Since taking her oath of office for the first time, Ludlow said a lot of change has transpired. She said she was involved in a lot of big projects that became realities.

“We sold the county hospital in my first year,” Ludlow recalled. “We built a new jail and sold an old jai. We built a new terminal at the airport, made great energy efficiency improvements to our facilities. We put in the new Beaver Lake dam. We have taken out a lot of loans and taken on a lot of debt, but we’ve moved forward in a lot of positive ways.”

Whoever serves as the new treasurer and the county face serious economic challenges.

The county is staring at a $1.6 million budget deficit and looking at having to use a large portion of its savings to cover it. Ludlow said that, over the years, as the red ink mounted, she tried her best to make recommendations to commissioners that could help limit the growing expenses and shrinking revenues.

“The budget and fund balance are the largest issues, without a doubt,” she said. “I have been saying for 12 years things were not getting any better, and now they have pushed it to the point where they are having to use fund balance up, and that will have to be addressed.”

The residents should begin to see a glimpse of what the future holds for the Treasurer’s Office soon as candidates for the elected position come out of the woodworks to announce their candidacy. The deadline to be on the ballot for the August primary election happens April 23.