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Treasurer reports stronger investment returns, proposes separate fund for tech and staffing pressures
Summary
Clallam County's treasurer told commissioners the county's investment strategy produced higher near-term returns and proposed establishing an 'investment/operations' fund seeded by retained investment-administration receipts to pay for recurring technology, staff compression adjustments and facility upgrades. The treasurer also requested phased l
Clallam County's treasurer reported improved investment income and recommended a new fund structure to cover technology and staffing pressures during Wednesday's budget review.
The treasurer said the office had laddered longer-term securities to lock higher yields and now expects better returns than in recent years, giving the county greater flexibility in the short run. "We locked in rates long ago and we're staggered and laddered to have those higher interest rates follow us for a few years," she said.
She proposed creating a separate 'investment/operations' fund to hold certain administrative fees and retained investment revenue rather than relying on the general fund. That fund, she said, could be used for software purchases, replacement of printers and other peripherals, funding a small recruitment/compression pool to address pay disparities in the office, and for phased capital projects such as a secured lobby.
"This allows us a soft pocket of funds that we can use when we're looking at investment software or to cover any of those employee salaries," she said, adding the fund is intended for equipment, services and staff-compression costs tied to treasury operations.
Why it matters: The treasurer's office handles daily cash flow and county investments; better returns reduce pressure on the general fund, but the office also flagged rising operating and security costs. The treasurer asked to reassign certain specialized receipts (for example, some LID and investment-administration revenues) to the new fund and to use part of a closed LID balance to seed it.
Other items the treasurer raised included requests to: - Replace or standardize desk printers to cut steep toner costs; she suggested working with IT on a consistent model. - Proceed incrementally on a lobby remodel and security improvements; an initial contractor quote was substantially lower than a separate facilities estimate, and the treasurer requested a phased approach. - Confirm whether the county is correctly remitting and budgeting a newly collected $5 court filing surcharge (discussed during the clerk presentation).
Next steps: Commissioners asked finance and IT to work with the treasurer on printer standardization and to return with a costed plan for phased lobby security improvements. The treasurer will also bring a proposed ordinance/administrative approach and recommended seed amounts for the proposed investment/operations fund for the board to consider during the budget cycle.
Sources: Remarks from Clallam County treasurer and finance staff during the Nov. 1, 2023 budget review.
