New London — She’s collected millions of dollars on behalf of the city through the years but somehow has managed to avoid the limelight.

Tax Collector Maureen Farrell has retired after 40 years of service to the city and with her departure goes a vast store of institutional knowledge about the city, its taxpayers and tax delinquents. Her last day was on Friday, when coworkers dropped in for last goodbyes at her office on Masonic Street.

Donna Rinehart, the deputy director of finance, treasurer and acting purchasing agent, said she has worked with Farrell for more than 30 years — many of those years in the same office — and they had lunch together nearly every day.

“I’m really going to miss her,” Rinehart said.

Rinehart called Farrell “an excellent worker and a straight arrow,” who was a rule-follower and a “integral part of the city’s finance department.” Rinehart said the loss of another city employee with as much historical knowledge as Farrell will be hard to replace.

Mayor Michael Passero agreed.

“Since coming on as mayor, she has provided me with a professional resource and wealth of experience on the matters under her purview,” Passero said. “While she is responsible for the city’s remarkable tax collection rate of over 98 percent, she also has been responsive to the needs of our residents and has always been willing to direct them to helpful resources.”

Farrell, 69, started work for the city in January 1979 as a loan officer in the housing conservation office, when that department was situated in a portion of the Crocker House apartments on State Street.

It was a higher-paying gig than the position she had held at a local credit union but Farrell said she was never enamored with the job. She stuck with it for 13 years until she was bumped to the finance department in 1991. She served as deputy tax collector and took over as tax collector with the retirement of her predecessor, Janice Ballestrini, in 1998.

“I always knew I should work with numbers,” Farrell said. “Give me something to balance and I’m happy.”

Born in Pawtucket., R.I., Farrell moved to the city when her father started work at Electric Boat when she was 13. She attended New London High School.

“For all intents and purposes, I’m a New London girl,” she said. “I have enjoyed working for the city over the last 40 years and will miss my job.”

Farrell is known for remaining calm and collected in the face of an occasionally irate taxpayer and said when all else fails, she pulls out her “librarian look,” in which she simply has to peer over her reading glasses to calm the situation.

Farrell said she is lucky to be in a nonpolitical position and to have a set of rules that leaves little wiggle room.

Farrell lives in Rhode Island with husband Ted, who will join her in retirement next year. The two plan to spend some time traveling.

Deputy Tax Collector Samantha Krakowiak has been training with Farrell and will assume the role of tax collector on April 29.

g.smith@theday.com