ATHENS, Ohio — The Athens County Democratic Party Central Committee unanimously appointed Josh Thomas as Athens city auditor and Jason Schroer as city treasurer, respectively, at a meeting Thursday night. Both appointees worked interim positions in their roles in June, following the retirement of long-time City Auditor Kathy Hecht.
Thomas worked as city treasurer alongside Hecht, then the auditor, for four years. Hecht taught him about her own responsibilities as auditor during that time.
“I know all this because Kathy would take the time just to say ‘Hey, sit down, let me show you something I’m working on,’” he said in an interview with the Independent.
As auditor, Thomas hopes to promote modernization and transparency. After a proposed income tax rate increase was voted down in 2025, Thomas said he realized that the city needed to discuss its budget with Athens residents more openly.
This year, he said he advocated for open communication about finances. He created an information packet for council members to use when asked about the budget. He also pushed to make information available on social media in order to reach a wider range of voters.
“That’s just the goal, to make sure when our citizens come to us, we don’t have two or three people saying two different things,” he said.
Last month, voters approved an income tax rate increase for the first time in ten years.
Thomas has owned the local restaurant Brenan’s Coffee Cafe since 2000, just three years after he graduated from Ohio University. It was at OU that he met Schroer, who will take over Thomas’ previous role as city treasurer.
Schroer graduated with a degree in political science, and has handled inventory and invoicing for OU’s culinary services department as a production coordinator for 28 years.
After raising two daughters in Athens, Schroer said he is looking forward to giving back to the city by serving as treasurer. After Hecht announced her retirement, Thomas said he recommended Schroer as interim treasurer because of his detail-oriented approach to problem solving.
“Sometimes you have to deconstruct something to figure out how it works,” Schroer said. “So I think I have the patience for that.”
After working together at OU, Schroer and Thomas will be collaborating closely again in their new roles.
Both appointees will serve until May 2027, when they will be up for re-election in the primary. The general election will take place in November 2027.
