MANSFIELD — Communication concerns between the Richland County Board of Commissioners and Bart Hamilton, the county’s treasurer, have been addressed.
The three-member board originally voiced its worries July 17 after receiving a letter from Mechanics Bank.
Nicholas Gesouras, chief banking officer and SVP at Mechanics Bank, wrote that it was brought to Mechanics’ attention that “a change in financial institutions may be under consideration” by the county — something that was news to commissioners.
To commissioners’ knowledge, Hamilton, an elected county official, had opened “several accounts” at Huntington Bank without consulting the board. Commissioners approved a letter at the mid-July meeting requesting Hamilton’s attendance at its meeting Thursday.
“Bart (Hamilton) and I had a really good talk a week or so ago,” said Commissioner Tony Vero. “We discussed the process, where we needed to clean up and I think the overall message moving forward was how we’ve got to get this right.”
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Public depository designation
Ohio Revised Code Section 135.33 outlines that commissioners should meet every four years for the purpose of designating its public depositories of active moneys for the next succeeding four-year period.
A public depository is defined by ORC as “an institution which receives or holds any public deposits.”
ORC makes it clear that a competitive application process — similar to the competitive bidding process when commissioners appropriate/utilize public dollars — is required for commissioners to designate a public depository.
Ultimately, the treasurer is responsible for the recommendation and commissioners have the legal authority to make the decision.
Richland County currently works with three depositories, including Civista Bank, Mechanics Bank and Park National Bank, Hamilton said.
During commissioners’ meeting July 17, the board admitted the last time the treasurer had come to the board regarding deposit slips was 2017.
According to Ohio Revised Code Section 135.33:
“the board of county commissioners, upon recommendation of the treasurer, shall designate, by resolution, one or more eligible institutions as public depositories for active moneys.”
“There’s blame, I think, on all sides,” Vero said. “It’s something we need to do. The code requires it and we’ve just got to get it right because it’s the public’s money.”
Richland County administrator Andrew Keller previously said that section of ORC doesn’t discuss any “remedies or ramifications” for anyone who is not following the statute.
But it does emphasize organizing the competitive application process every four years, open to all eligible institutions with at least one office in Richland County.
Commissioners’ discussion with Hamilton on Thursday centered around getting this process started.
Next steps for commissioners, Hamilton
At least 60 days before commissioners would meet to designate the county’s public depository or depositories, ORC says the county treasurer “shall submit to the board an estimate of the aggregate amount of public moneys that might be available for deposit as active moneys at any one time during the next four-year period.”
Hamilton told the board he came up with an estimated figure of $250 million.
“That’s everything,” he said. “That’s our entire portfolio. That’s all the money we have at STAR (Ohio) and it’s projecting forward because these are four-year agreements.
“It (estimate) might be a little high, but I’d rather be high than low.”
The board’s next step is to notify all eligible institutions with at least one office in Richland County, including the amount that has been estimated to be available for deposit and the last date which applications may be submitted.
Hamilton said he doesn’t expect every county bank to be interested in being a depository.
“They (banks) have to collateralize any money that we give them,” the treasurer said, meaning the institution must in some way secure deposits that exceed the limit of federal deposit insurance.
Keller said the county plans to create an application for eligible institutions to fill out if interested. The plan is to send the application, along with a proposed agreement, to each eligible bank directly.
“I think it’s fair to aim for having an application for the commissioners to approve two weeks from today (Thursday),” he said.