By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com
Financial legislation dominated the agenda as Galion prepares for its slate of summer projects. The headliners in that category were the line improvements phases 3, 4, and 5; and the Portland Way South paving project.
Ordinance 2015-30 amended the 2015 Appropriations to place the proper funding in the appropriate pots. This bill, passed on a final reading to allow work on these projects to begin, encompasses some rather large sums of money. As an example, $615,000 was allocated to the Portland Way project. However, these amounts are unappropriated funds being moved to the funds where they will be needed for projects that have already been approved. These projects were in the budget and met approval of the State Auditor’s office; they are not approvals of new expenditures.
It was at the last finance committee meeting that the decision was made to fund the Portland Way project primarily with the city’s cash reserves. So far, $365,000 of it has been financed at zero percent interest, but the balance of the project, in the neighborhood of $3.3 million, will be paid without additional loans.
The Electrical Upgrade Project needed some tweaking as Phases IV and V were folded into each other. This happened because it was initially envisioned that Phase V was going to be conducted in house. After some additional analysis, it was decided that the work outlined in this phase would be better conducted by outside forces. The passage of Ordinance 2015-27 allows for these changes, and its emergency status allows for the awarding of bids.
As the last council meeting, a sum of $6 million was approved for investment, after a recommendation from the Investment Board. This fund was invested with Star Ohio, a municipal group that has been around since the 1980s for investment purposes. Since that time, Auditor Brian Treisch has had the chance to do some more analysis, and came back with a recommendation to council that that sum be upped to $16 million.
Treisch arrived at this number after analyzing average expenditures over set periods, what a disastrous month would cost, and how much money could be generated by this fund. He determined that an additional $10 million could safely be placed in this fund.
Star Ohio is FDIC insured, which means the city will be reimbursed by the federal government should some disaster strike. They also have very forgiving rules should cash need to be withdrawn in the event of an expenditure emergency on Galion’s end. Treisch stated that Star Ohio promises access to funds in a 48 hour window. This level of investment will see the City generate approximately $320,000 in interest revenue per year.
Treisch also reported that in a year-on-year comparison, the first quarter of 2015 saw significant reduction in the City’s electrical expenditures. Usage declined only 1.7 percent, but the price went down 22 percent. This amounts to about $730,000.