LEWISTON — After spending 36 years in charge of the city’s revenue streams, Paul Labrecque figures it might be time to deliver some flowers.

“Delivering flowers, that makes people happy,” Labrecque said. “It’s not that I’m a delivery person at heart, it’s just something to get me out among people. I’m a people person.”

But he’s been a number person since 1974, when Labrecque hired on as a staff accountant. A year after that, then-Treasurer Alfred Plourde hired him as assistant treasurer. Nine years later, when Plourde stepped down to run for mayor, Labrecque took over as treasurer.

Labrecque, 61, will retire July 1 as city tax collector and investment officer.

“It’s a surreal thing to think about,” he said Thursday. “You work and you know that your retirement is there in the future, a possibility. Then you get to a point when it’s something that’s 10 years away, then three. And then it’s a matter of weeks, not years and then days, not weeks. It’s surreal.”

The job has changed almost as much as the city, he said. The treasurer’s office manages all of the city’s income, including taxes, grants, state revenue payments, fines, fares and fees — all $95 million. Two major functions take up most of the time: collecting property tax payments, registering cars and taking excise tax payments.

In 1974, when he started with the city, that money was tracked by hand in ledgers, typed cards and registrations.

Maine car registrations used to be handled with two transactions, one at City Hall and a second at a Department of Motor Vehicles office. Before the state staggered car registration due dates — in the mid-1970s, he said — and let cities handle car registrations, it meant some long days in his office.

“All car registrations were due on the same date, Feb. 28,” he said. “All February, the line would stretch out the hall, down the stairs and out into the street. And this was during the coldest part of the year. And then, when they finished here, they had go down to the DMV office and the line was twice as long there.”

Computers are the other big difference. From room-sized servers to tiny laptops and the Internet, Labrecque said automation has transformed the job.

“Now, many of the tax payments are done through the mail or directly through escrow accounts,” he said. “People don’t even have to come in, and they can even register their cars online.”

All along, he used his financial expertise to help local boards and national organizations. He served on the county budget committee from 1986 through 2007, as treasurer for the South Park Development Corp. from 1986 until this year and as a finance committee member at his local parishes. He’s also taught classes at the National Regional Tax Collectors and Treasurers Association and the Maine Municipal Tax Collectors and Treasurers Association.

That all ends July 1. Labrecque said he’s looking forward to taking a couple of months off to relax before he begins thinking about a part-time job.

“Nothing to do with collections and billing,” he said. “I want to do something that’s kind of easy-going, that involves being out-and-about among people. I could do things like delivering flowers, or being a courtesy driver for an auto dealership or courier for banking stuff. I’ve worked in an office all my life, but I’m an outdoor person by nature.”

[email protected]