Keeping lines moving is a prime directive for Antonia Flaggs Jones, tapped in May to serve as interim tax collector for Warren County after 16-year incumbent Pat Simrall retired.

Jones worked alongside Simrall for 14 of those years and, by most observations, is leading a seamless transition.

“We try to get people in and out of here as quickly and timely as we can,” said Jones, who credits an experienced eight-person staff and draws on her own experience in retail as a model for prompt customer service for those who visit the office on the first floor of the courthouse to buy or renew car tags and pay property and other taxes.

“It’s service with a smile. I tell them to think of each person as though it was you, or if it was your own grandmother coming in,” she said.

Audrey Brown, a nine-year employee of the Tax Collector’s Office, chalks it up to good routine.

“It’s just practice,” Brown said. “You don’t want to have people just standing in line.”

Jones might be asking Warren County voters to let her keep the job when the office appears on a Nov. 3 special election ballot along with the Districts 3 and 5 seats on the Election Commission.

“Yes I do,” Jones said when asked if she wants to run for the office. The effort figures to come from the love of her job instead of any expectations to keep public office in the family name — she is a niece to state Rep. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg.

“It’s my love of the office. I just love what I do,” Jones said. “For that reason, I’d love to stay.”

The transition in department heads is the biggest challenge, she said, but not one that is likely to overwhelm an office where, despite two pending retirements, experience averages 10 years.

“The staff has longevity here,” she said, adding that more people each year pay their car tag fees and property taxes by mail or online, which in itself cuts down on foot traffic.

“We collect about 20 or better (online payments) each day, so that’s 20 people who don’t have to stand in line.”

The Tax Collector’s Office collects car tag fees and property taxes to county and state funds when due. In Warren County, the office also collects municipal taxes in Vicksburg. Also, business licenses are sold in the office. A link to the Mississippi 1-Stop site for paying car tag fees and property taxes online appears on the county Web site, www.co.warren.ms.us.

Qualifying for the November special election ends Sept. 4.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com