Working in county government and managing public funds can feel a bit like juggling raw eggs. It usually works out okay for the juggler when it’s done with practice, experience, and concentration. But not always. Taxpayers demand accuracy, accountability, and efficiency, and that leaves little room for error. No one serving in public finance wants to be the one that accidentally drops an egg. That’s why we should continually be looking for best practices, innovative new technologies, and time-saving tools that will allow us to better manage our workload. The end-of-year is a great time to review cash-management practices to see if you could be earning higher revenues on deposits. Evaluating bank fees can often result in lower costs and more advantageous Earnings Credit Ratings. Written investment policies should be updated. It’s also a good fiscal policy to maximize the earnings on your ARP funds during the time those dollars remain on deposit.
When it comes to innovative tools, three+one® employs the very latest financial technology in our cashVest® analysis to support these tasks. We help finance offices determine precisely how much liquidity they have available and we provide accurate future forecasts of how long those funds will remain on deposit before they will be needed. We then combine that data with information on the best available local and regional interest rates. As a result, you get an independent third-party perspective ensuring that your municipality’s liquidity is performing at the highest possible levels. The results generated with the cashVest program provide confidence for auditors, county officials, and taxpayers to know they are making data-informed decisions on their cash on a regular ongoing basis.
To learn more about cashVest® andthree+one®, visit their website.
By William Cherry
Former County Treasurer and current Director of Public Partnerships at three+one