Curry County budget committee reviews treasurers account structure, elects chair and vice chair

Nick, the county treasurer, told the Curry County Budget Committee that the county holds most operating funds in the Local Government Investment Pool (LGIP) and a separate road pool, and described how tax, payroll and reimbursements flow between four primary accounts.

The presentation explained that LGIP account 5100 functions as the countys main operating and savings bucket, a road pool receives fuel and related road tax receipts from ODOT, a treasurers checking account is kept at a working balance (about $500,000 to $700,000), and an "unseg[regated] tax" account receives property tax receipts before disbursement to more than 50 taxing districts.

Why it matters: committee members pressed the need for a clearer investment strategy after the treasurer said interest earned in the LGIP has fallen from about 5% to 4.6%, and compared the countys approach unfavorably to similarly sized counties that hold smaller percentages in LGIP and diversify into Treasury bills and other low-risk instruments.

Most important facts

- The treasurer said the countys interest-bearing holdings are concentrated in two places: the LGIP and the road pool; the LGIP interest rate the treasurer reported is currently 4.6%, down from about 5% earlier this year.

- The…