Sioux County approves multiple short-term transfers and loans from Inheritance Fund to cover cash-flow needs

Sioux County commissioners approved multiple transfers and short-term loans from the Inheritance Fund during 2019 to meet cash-flow needs while FEMA-related work and reimbursements were pending.

Earlier in the year the board approved Resolution 2019-1 to borrow $22,000 from the Inheritance Fund to be paid back on May 1, 2019 to cover short-term expenses (SEG 076). The board approved a second similar loan of $32,000 (Resolution 2019-2) to be paid back on May 1, 2019 (SEG 105). Later in the year the board recorded larger transfers and financing: an entitlement transfer of $223,615 to the General Fund was recorded (SEG 246) and the board approved transfer/loan actions including a transfer of $150,000 from the Inheritance Fund to the General Fund (SEG 322). In December the board approved Resolution 2019-6 to borrow $50,000 from the Inheritance Fund to cover December expenses, with the transfer to be repaid prior to May 1, 2020 (SEG 371).

Treasurer Lacy Klein and auditor representatives had warned earlier that the county’s cash position was thin, that the road fund had higher-than-expected expenses and that reliance on the Inheritance Fund was not a long-term solution (SEGs 055, 056). The board repeatedly recorded these transfers and loans as short-term measures and noted plans to repay the Inheritance Fund when tax revenues and reimbursements arrive.

Motions to approve the loans and transfers were recorded with unanimous roll-call votes where noted (e.g., Downer, yes; Geiser, yes; Skavdahl, yes on recorded resolutions).