Shari Freidenrich

Shari was first elected in 2010 to serve as the Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector being the first woman ever elected to this position and the third woman elected to a county-wide seat.  She was re-elected after running unopposed in June 2014, 2018, and 2022. In June 2022 Shari had the highest vote total of 475,633 certified by the OC Registrar of Voters. She is responsible for overseeing the county’s $15 billion investment pool and serves as one of three woman trustees for the $23 billion Orange County Employee Retirement System.

Shari has implemented many Common Sense Changes since coming to the County of Orange in January 2011.   She has already saved taxpayers almost $1 Billion since she has been in office.  In 2013, Shari was awarded the “Rose Award” by the Orange County Taxpayers Association for her work in saving taxpayer money and streamlining government operations. 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. Shari was featured in an alumni video for her former employer, Deloitte. Shari was 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 and was also selected in their 2018 OC 500 list.  In 2018, Shari received the 2018 Trailblazer award and was selected as one of three “Experienced Women to Watch” by the California Society of CPAs.  Under Shari’s leadership, the County of Orange received a 2018 National Association of Counties Achievement Award for being the first government agency nationally to implement a Medallion Signature Stamp program for official County business.  Finally, In 2019, Shari was nominated for the Orange County Business Journal’s annual 2019 Women in Business award.

Shari’s Common Sense Changes include:

• ​Eliminating full color property tax bills

• Posting prior year's property tax bills and payment details online

• Lowering credit card service fees by over 10% for taxpayers

• Doubling the use of no-cost eCheck payment option

• ​Increasing collections of secured property taxes to 99.4%, the higher % ever recorded

• Adding search capability by business name for unsecured property tax bills

• Saving significant dollars related to school bond financing costs

• Adding online payment receipts by email

• Shortening pension amortization periods to eliminate negative amortization

• Streamlining operations by consolidating over 160 individual annual debt service wire payments to less than 10 wires saving significant staff time and wire costs.

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, 2018, 2022 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.  Shari was just selected in 2016 by the Orange County Business Journal in their inaugural OC 500, and reselected in 2018.  This list honors the most influential individuals in Orange County as a governmental representative who has contributed to the community of business.  In 2018, Shari received the Trailblazer award and was selected as one of three "Experienced Women to Watch" by the California Society of CPA's.  Under Shari's leadership, the County of Orange received a 2018 National Association of Counties Achievement Award (NACO) for being the first government agency nationally to implement a Medallion Signature Stamp program for official County business.  In 2019, Shari received a NACO innovation award for her work on the County's Mello application for property taxes.