County finance and treasury report: accounts payable presented; investment portfolio posts positive returns

Kalamazoo County finance staff presented claims and payroll for board review on Nov. 18 and offered the monthly financial and investment reports.

Finance staff said the accounts payable claims list totaled $3,081,945.95, of which the Board was asked to approve claims totaling $2,837,084.31. Payroll disbursements presented for approval totaled $4,594,306.07 for the Nov. 7 general and Nov. 14 elected payrolls.

Chief Deputy Treasurer Tyler White reported the county investment portfolio had a par value of $171,090,063.65 and a market value of $170,829,826.75, a mark‑to‑market variance of $260,236.90. White noted October portfolio earnings of $630,791.28 on an average daily balance of about $184.9M and year‑to‑date earnings of $6,001,582.48 (effective year‑to‑date rate ~4.38%). If November and December follow current trends, staff projected approximately $7.2M in portfolio earnings for 2025.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about year‑to‑date percentages, the treatment of transfers in calculating percentages and the importance of deeper line‑item budget review during the annual budget process. Vice chair Taylor highlighted that revenue is up compared with last year and that expenditures were tracking below last year at a comparable point.

Finance staff reminded commissioners that mark‑to‑market variance affects the bottom line only upon liquidation and said the county’s strategy is to hold assets to maturity to avoid realized losses.

No controversial objections to the financials were raised during the presentation and staff invited further questions outside the meeting.