The Good & the Bad (Press) About Your Entity’s Finances
If you serve as an elected or appointed public official—at the county, town, city, village, or school district level—you already know that you are responsible and answerable to your constituents about their hard-earned tax dollars. You also know how seriously your constituents take the management of these funds.
Oversight bodies are also taking a more deliberate approach to reviewing the management policies and practices of finance offices and officials. And because these findings are publicly disclosed, you can be the hero by taking action now to ensure best fiscal practices. At a time when the added pressures of COVID-19, changes in market environment, and work-load burdens are stretching public finance offices to their max, you need an ally to help mitigate some common findings that could be cited for improvement.
We work diligently with our public sector partners across the country, with municipalities and districts of all sizes and compositions. We have shown your colleagues that the liquidity management solutions and time horizon data produced by our cashvest® and rfpPrep® fintech tools will aid in avoiding the very criticisms seen in these excerpts of actual audit reports from entities who did not utilize three+one® as trusted resource:
“…[focus on] preparation of monthly cash flow forecasts to estimate available funds for investment, soliciting interest rate quotes from multiple financial institutions, and investing available funds (within legal limits) in financial institutions offering the highest interest rates.”
“…develop and manage a comprehensive investment program to ensure interest earnings were maximized and bank fees were minimized. Had officials invested available funds in a financial institution with higher interest rates, interest earnings could have increased by $215,120.”
“…for investments to earn the maximum yield possible in a safe and liquid manner, the District could have earned as much as $367,963…”
Even in an era of low interest rates, these audit findings prove that there is still real value to be found in maximizing interest earnings and reducing bank fees. When it comes to tax dollars, every single one counts; any public official understands that.
At three+one®, we help public entities know exactly how much cash they have on hand; how long that cash will likely remain on deposit before it is needed; and where that liquidity can best be put to work earning the highest available interest income, along with the lowest possible bank fees. And we do that for our clients continually, month after month, year after year.
Count on our team and our innovative financial tools and you can benefit in these ways:
-Your public entity or school district will earn the maximum possible interest revenue;
-Your constituents will have confidence that their money is being well managed;
-And you won’t be reading an article in your local newspaper that auditors found fault with your cash-management procedures. Instead, you’ll be the hero for your proactive approach.
Financial tools from three+one include cashvest®, MC Forecast®, rfpPrep®, and direct client access to our team of liquidity and cash-management professionals. When combined, these powerful tools provide public entities and higher Ed institutions with the kind of accurate and reliable cash-management data that they need in order to make the best financial decisions for the funds in their care.
The author served for a total of 38 years in local government at the village, town, and county levels, including 24 years as a County Treasurer/CFO responsible for investing public funds. He can be reached by phone at 585-484-0311.
