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Parkersburg mayor issues investment policy memo

PARKERSBURG — The investment policy adopted this week contains sufficient checks and balances, Mayor Tom Joyce writes in a memo Wednesday aimed at addressing the concerns of some City Council members.

Joyce’s memo on investment policy

The policy was approved on a 6-2 vote Tuesday, with one member absent, following the failure of a motion to send the policy to the Finance Committee on a 4-4 tie. Parkersburg City Council President J.R. Carpenter said he was concerned by language in the resolution authorizing the finance director “in his/her sole discretion” to invest and reinvest certain city funds.

Carpenter said it was no reflection on current Finance Director Eric Jiles but he thought there needed to be more checks and balances.

In the memo sent out Wednesday afternoon, Joyce says the policy as written includes the checks and balances needed “to ensure the proper investment, monitoring and reporting of funds invested.”

Designating the finance director to have authority and day-to-day responsibility for investment of the funds is consistent with the duties of the job as outlined in the city charter and code and defines the individual and department responsible for handling the investments, Joyce writes in the memo.

“It is inappropriate for such day-to-day finance and accounting activities to be performed outside of the Finance Department,” he says.

The policy also requires the finance director to report to the mayor on at least a quarterly basis on the balances of cash on hand and value of investments. In addition, City Council must be notified in writing if assets sold or purchased exceed 10 percent of the portfolio’s value in any 30-day period.

“The level of oversight reporting required by the investment policy approved by Council significantly strengthens the City’s Mayor and Council involvement in the management of City assets beyond what is currently required, creating a level of checks and balances that did not exist before,” Joyce writes in the memo.

Other sections of the policy reiterate state code about permitted investments and impose additional restrictions “to ensure that the City assumes only minimal levels of risk in order to preserve principal in the event that a market adjustment causes a downturn in economic conditions,” Joyce writes.

Jiles has previously said the lack of an investment policy was flagged in the city’s recent annual audits. Outside of its pension funds, the city’s only investments are in certificates of deposit, which have been producing lower interest rates than other portfolio options, he said.

Contacted Wednesday afternoon, Carpenter said he had not had an opportunity to read the memo. He said he still feels the resolution should have gone to the Finance Committee so questions could have been asked and answered before the measure was considered at a council meeting.

“We kind of skipped a step,” he said.

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