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HWMA board adopts resolution to invest select reserves in California CLASS Prime Fund
Summary
The Humboldt Waste Management Authority board adopted Resolution 2026-06 to authorize investing non-operating reserve funds in the California CLASS Prime Fund to diversify holdings and earn higher yields than current money market accounts.
The Humboldt Waste Management Authority board voted to adopt Resolution 2026-06 authorizing investment of certain reserve funds in the California Cooperative Liquid Assets Security System (CLASS) Prime Fund.
Board members heard staff say the move is intended to diversify non-operational reserves and secure returns higher than the authority’s existing money market accounts.
Staff recounted the authority’s investment history: a 2009 resolution allowed investments in local agency funds; a November 2023 resolution (2024-03) broadened that authorization beyond LAIF. After the 2024 reauthorization, staff placed the authority’s operating reserve in the Local Agency Investment Fund (LAIF). The staff recommendation presented at the meeting is to keep the operating reserve in LAIF and move other reserve accounts — including the capital improvement fund and smaller reserves such as the employee reserve and rate stabilization reserve — into CLASS subaccounts to diversify holdings and earn better returns than current money market rates.
Director Schwartz provided yield comparisons during the discussion. "The daily yield for CLASS is 4.1467%. The 30-day yield is 4.2249%," Schwartz said, noting those rates are similar to LAIF’s recent 30-day yield of about 4.212% and substantially higher than the money-market accounts the authority had been using.
Staff stressed that CLASS offers comparable risk to LAIF while permitting multiple subaccounts so the authority can segregate funds by purpose. The board moved to adopt Resolution 2026-06; there was no public comment. The board voted in favor of the resolution (recorded on the transcript as unanimous vocal "aye" responses).
The board also approved the consent calendar earlier in the meeting by motion and vocal "ayes." The consent calendar items were not read aloud and no items were pulled for separate discussion.
Staff indicated that funds already in LAIF will remain the operating reserve and that transfers to CLASS would apply only to the nonoperational reserve accounts identified in the presentation. The board did not identify additional conditions or timeline details for transfers beyond the staff presentation.
The authority will record next steps and any transfers in subsequent staff reports as required by the board’s direction.
