Santa Cruz County treasurer delays new system, enforces new deposit procedure after resistance from one entity

Mister Chalice, Santa Cruz County treasurer, told the Board of Supervisors on March 18 that the county’s cash-and-investment position is stable, the tax-lien sale closed successfully, and officials have adopted a new investment policy. He also said the county will postpone moving to a new treasury software and that a mandatory change requiring entities to provide their own treasurer’s receipt has met resistance from one county entity.

The treasurer opened with month-end balances: the general fund at $21,481,954 (invested $16,098,142); the road fund at $6,931,572; the flood control district at $2,904,564; the jail district at $6,995,263; and a total of $64,824,467 across all funds. He reported an estimated end-of-month balance of $13,266,069. He also summarized the county’s February tax-lien sale: total value $898,040.70; 3,141 bids on 935 items; 597 items sold; 80 qualified bidders; and 247 registered users.

The treasurer described work on an investment policy developed with peer counties and said the county will pursue conservative, short-term maturities while staff develops cash-flow forecasting for each supported entity. He said the county will submit the policy to the Government Investment Officers Association for review and certification.

On the proposed new treasury software from vendor CollectWare Harris, the treasurer said the vendor is not ready and that he will not put the county on the system before it is fully confirmed ready. "I will not go into this treasurer system until they can 100% confirm to me that they are fully ready for us to adopt that system," he said. He told the board that, because the end of the fiscal year and a sequence of statutory deadlines fall in the coming months, the county will likely postpone the rollout until next March so earlier adopters can work out problems first.

The treasurer also described a mandatory process change for depositing funds: each county entity must complete its own treasurer’s receipt (deposit slip) and provide supporting documentation. He said 10 of 11 entities adopted the change immediately but that one entity resisted and required legal counsel and mediation. He said the county provided the resisting entity three options: comply with the new process, indemnify the treasurer’s office for any errors, or bank elsewhere. The treasurer said the parties reached a temporary resolution under which the entity will supply a signed receipt and attachments while the offices continue to pursue full compliance.

The treasurer asked the board to note the resistance and may seek the supervisors’ support in encouraging full compliance. Board members thanked the treasurer for transparency and offered to follow up with the recalcitrant department.

The treasurer’s presentation included operational numbers and implementation decisions but no formal board vote was taken on the matters he described.