County officials on Thursday discussed steps required under Ohio Revised Code 135.33 to designate public depositories for county funds and agreed to prepare a competitive application and notification process for banks that do business in Richland County.

Treasurer Bart Hamilton told the Richland County Board of Commissioners the statutory process requires an estimate of the maximum amount of public funds that might be held as active deposits during the coming four-year term. Hamilton said he provided a written estimate of $250,000,000 to the board as a ‘‘worst-case scenario’’ projection for the next four-year depository term, and said the figure is deliberately conservative.

The discussion focused on how the board must ‘‘immediately notify all eligible institutions’’ after receipt of the treasurer’s estimate and how the county should collect consistent application materials from interested banks. County staff and the board agreed staff would contact eligible institutions directly where possible, prepare a short, fillable application and an accompanying proposed depository agreement, and return to the board with a draft for approval in about two weeks.

County Administrator Andrew Keller and senior clerk Stacy Craw said staff will research which banks have offices in the county and determine whether publication is required if any uncertainty remains. Auditor Pat Dropsy and others noted that the code requires banks to provide financial statements as part of the application, and some banks decline to serve as depositories because they must collateralize public deposits. Hamilton described three collateralization methods used locally: a dedicated municipal note (described for one local bank), an insured custodial arrangement (ICS), and the state treasurer’s collateralization through the STAR Ohio/STAR system, with minimum collateralization percentages discussed.

Hamilton said the county currently uses several institutions for different functions, including a pooled investment vehicle (STAR Ohio) for short-term liquidity, and named Mechanics, Savista, and Park (Park National) as banks the county has worked with historically. He said the county will prepare an application ‘‘as simple as possible’’ and hoped the board could set a designation date later this year, noting the four-year depository agreements must cover the next four-year term.

No formal board vote was taken on a depository designation during the meeting. Commissioners directed staff to draft an application and proposed notification process and to present it to the board for consideration in approximately two weeks, with final designation to be set before the end of the year.

The discussion included questions from County Administrator Hayden Gray about prior communication between the treasurer and the board; Hamilton said prior communication issues had been discussed and that the current effort aims to comply with the statutory schedule because the funds are public money.

The board indicated a preference for a concise application (three to four pages with fillable fields, based on examples Hamilton had reviewed) rather than a lengthy RFP-style packet. Hamilton said the estimate he submitted reflects current portfolio size and projected activity, and that he would rather err on the high side when providing the required estimate to potential depositories.

The board and staff also discussed timing to avoid imposing an abrupt burden on a new treasurer if an incoming official begins service this fall. The group agreed the term length for agreements must be four years per the statute, and that staff will recommend a schedule for notices and the designation meeting when they return with the application draft.