Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the County Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Treasurer defends placing county funds with higher‑yield banks; supervisors press for RFPs
Summary
The county treasurer proposed raising depository caps at institutions that pay higher interest; supervisors pressed for formal RFPs and transparency. The board approved updated depository limits after discussion about operational impacts and RFP frequency.
Treasurer Mike explained proposed changes to the county’s depository limits, saying the county must balance safety, liquidity and return in managing large seasonal inflows during property‑tax collection months. Mike said the county had run close to a prior $75 million cap during collections and that increasing the cap at institutions that pay above‑market interest would capture more interest revenue for the county.
"It's essentially to make sure that there's safety, liquidity, and return, and that's in the Iowa code," Mike said while describing his approach of negotiating institution relationships to secure higher daily rates during large collection months.
Supervisor Anne pressed whether the county had run an RFP process. Mike said he had conducted an RFP for the county’s wealth account and had informal pitches with several banks for depository services, and suggested doing a formal RFP every 3–5 years rather than annually because of operational complexity in changing an operational account.
Anne said she preferred formal RFPs to ensure transparency and to avoid the appearance that relationships rather than competitive bids determine where large public deposits are held. The treasurer acknowledged the concern and said he would consider a regular RFP schedule; the board then approved the revised depository limits after the discussion, with one supervisor recording a dissent.
No changes to county banking law were made; the action updated the administrative depository caps the treasurer may use.
