At the recommendation of CFO Rose Kisaalita, the Barrow County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night voted to transfer $16.7 million from multiple accounts at Peoples Bank of Winder to an investment pool operated by the state’s treasury department.
The board’s action took place two weeks after a June 8 presentation by a representative of Georgia Fund 1, which is a $9 billion investment pool for state and local governments.
The City of Winder government and the local school system already have funds in the pool.
Kisaalita told the commissioners that Peoples Bank officials also support the move.
Wednesday morning, she told the
Barrow Journal that after becoming the county’s CFO, she learned that the county was considering moving the funds.
She said it was actually bank officials who recommended the county open a Georgia Fund 1 account.
“From my previous job, our investment was in the Georgia Fund 1,” she said. “So I know how it works and I was able to pick up and run with it.”
She said the bank incurs considerable costs in insuring the county’s deposits and she said none of the three affected bank accounts would be emptied or closed.
The county government also has other accounts at Peoples and will continue to keep millions of dollars on deposit there, she said.
Kisaalita said the state government closely monitors the Georgia Fund 1 investment pool and makes no risky investments. County officials will be able to access its investment within one business day as long as a withdrawal request is submitted by 2 p.m., she said.
“Personally, I feel comfortable with it.”
The Georgia Fund 1 currently is paying about twice the interest offered by the bank for money-market accounts.
Peoples Bank president Christopher Maddox in late April notified commission chairman Danny Yearwood that the interest rates on May 1 would drop to 0.10 percent on all money-market accounts and to 0.05 percent on all checking accounts.
The Georgia Fund 1 currently is paying about 0.20 percent interest.
The board’s vote was 5-1, with Eva Elder voting no. At the board’s June 8 meeting, she pointed out that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. does not insure the investment pool.
For more on this story, see the June 23 edition of the Barrow Journal or click here to sign up for a free trial of our new e-edition. Offer ends July 13.
