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Long Beach council hears details on new municipal bank marketplace; controller to post budget reports
Summary
Councilors questioned a proposed move into Metropolitan Commercial Bank’s Demand Deposit Marketplace program, pressing for transparency on monthly budget reports and how the city would manage transfers; bank representative said the account is daily‑liquid with a reported money‑market yield of 4.80%.
Long Beach officials on Nov. 19 heard a presentation from the city controller and a representative of Metropolitan Commercial Bank about a proposed demand‑deposit marketplace program the city would be authorized to use.
Controller Ina Resnick introduced the item as a way to diversify short‑term liquidity; the bank representative, Denny Tetz (identified in the meeting), told the council the money‑market portion of the proposed program currently yields about 4.80 percent and that the account is fully liquid and tied to actions by the Federal Open Market Committee.
Council members asked how often the rate changes (Tetz said only when the Fed acts), whether the checking portion would earn interest (the representative said the checking account would not be interest bearing, only the money‑market portion), and what insurance coverage the program provides (the representative said the program can provide enhanced FDIC protection under its structure, in some cases up to $50 million).
Several councilors raised transparency questions: one member noted the city has not seen monthly budget‑status reports since March and said it makes it harder to approve an investment vehicle without up‑to‑date financials. Resnick said a Sept. 30 report was posted to the city’s transparency portal and committed to re‑send links and documents to council members. The controller also told the council she would circulate the audit results for fiscal year 2024 when available.
The council voted to authorize the controller to enter the program; council members and staff emphasized that authorizing the vehicle does not by itself move a particular dollar amount into the program and that any deposits would be managed by the controller based on cash‑flow needs.
Quotes: "Our current yield is 4.80. This is a fully liquid account," said the Metropolitan Commercial Bank representative. "I will send you the link," Controller Ina Resnick said when a councilor said he could not find recent reports on the transparency portal.
Next steps: the controller will send the transparency‑portal links to council members, and the controller’s office will manage any future transfers into the new account according to cash‑flow needs.
