County earns almost $1M in interest

CELINA - Mercer County's government enjoyed a substantial return of nearly $1 million in interest income on its investments in 2019.

Those returns, county treasurer David Wolters said, help county officials finance additional operational needs. Of the $916,000 in interest income generated in 2019, $769,992 flowed into the general fund, which pays for the county's day-to-day operations. The rest is divided up among the engineer's office, Lake Facilities Authority and Community Development office.

The general fund's annual share of interest income rose from $265,112 in 2015 to $769,992 in 2019, an uptick of $504,879, per Wolters figures.

Last year's windfall of nearly $1 million in interest income can be attributed to a strategic alignment of the county's portfolio in which Wolters, with the backing of the county investment committee, participated "in a short-term rising interest rate environment," he said.

"From my perspective, our portfolio is a very important asset to the county," Wolters said. "These dollars need to be strategically invested, keeping in mind safety and liquidity and opportunities for increased yield and performance need to be optimized."

Wolters said his office is responsible for collecting, depositing and reconciling funds from other county offices. In fact, his office oversees more than 500 county funds.

His office invests these funds - aiming to maximize growth of inactive dollars on deposit - before they are spent on county services, Wolters said.

"We need to keep those dollars working," he told the newspaper. "This office then, we invest these funds."

County money can be placed into investments of up to five years as permitted by Ohio Revised Code.

"The treasurer's office invests funds to ensure safety of these dollars, the county's investments are sufficiently liquid for the county's cash flow needs and to earn a competitive rate of return through the course of the market cycles," Wolters explained.

To ensure county money is invested safely, Wolters chooses investments deemed high quality by Moody's and Standard & Poor's.

The county's investment portfolio on average in 2019 was $40 million, compared with $30.74 million in 2015. That growth speaks to county department heads serving as fine fiscal stewards by generating adequate revenue and managing expenses, Wolters said.

The county also enjoys strong partnerships with local banks and Meeder Investment Management, an investment adviser that works in public money.

"We as a county have excellent partnerships with local financial institutions throughout the county. They're very competitive," he said.

Meeder offers the county access to the fixed-income securities marketplace and evaluates comparative securities with comparable durations, Wolters pointed out.

The county invests in treasury bills, short-term high-quality commercial paper, certificates of deposits, brokerage certificates of deposit, agency bonds and money market accounts, he continued. It also lends to townships and other county municipalities.

"We do not invest in any stocks, mutual funds, real estate investment, trusts, alternative investments or speculative investments such as coins or bitcoin," he stressed.