In accordance with Florida Statute 218.415, Local government investment policies, investment activity by a unit of local government must be consistent with a written investment plan adopted by the governing body, or in the absence of an adopted policy, investment activity must be conducted in accordance with Florida Statute 218.415 (17). Any such unit of local government shall have an investment policy for any public funds in excess of the amounts needed to meet current expenses as provided in subsections (1)-(16), or shall meet the alternative investment guidelines contained in subsection (17), Authorized Investments: No Written Investment Policy. Such written policies shall be structured to place the highest priority on the safety of principal and liquidity of funds. The optimization of investment returns shall be secondary to the requirements for safety and liquidity. Each unit of local government shall adopt policies that are commensurate with the nature and size of the public funds within its custody.
Under Section 2-214 of the City of Riviera Beach (the “City”) Charter, the Director of Finance (the “Director”) is authorized to act as the City’s Treasurer with the responsibility of depositing all monies received by the City and investing funds in securities authorized by the state. All persons involved in the investment of public funds in the City’s Finance and Administrative Services Department (“Finance”) are required to comply with the City Charter’s provisions relating to the investment of public funds.
The City’s most recent Investment Policy was adopted on March 16, 2016. The purpose of this Investment Policy and Guidelines document (the “Policy”) is to establish cash management and investment guidelines for the City. This policy was been prepared in accordance with Florida Statutes 218.415. Under the Policy, Finance is responsible for the management of daily receipt and investment of cash and related accounting operations. The Director is the Chief Investment Officer of the City and investments may be directed by the Director, or designee, or outside professional fund managers, in accordance with this Policy. It is the policy of the Director to invest all funds under Finance’s control in a prudent manner that provides the highest return on investments using authorized instruments while meeting the City’s daily cash flow demands.
The Policy applies to all investments within Finance and made on behalf of the Director, with the exception of the City’s pension trust funds, which are administered separately, investment of principal, interest, reserve, construction, capitalized interest, redemption or escrow accounts created by ordinance or resolution pursuant to the issuance of bonds where the investments are held by an authorized depository, and funds received and held in specific accounts in compliance with Federal or State grant awards.
The primary objectives in the investment of City funds under control of Finance are to ensure the safety of principal, while managing liquidity requirements for debt service and other financial obligations of the City, and providing the highest investment return using authorized investment instruments.
Return on investment is of least importance compared to the safety and liquidity objectives described above. The core of investments is limited to relatively low risk securities in anticipation of earning a fair return relative to the risk being assumed.
As noted above, the City’s Investment Policy was last modified and approved by City Council on March 16, 2016. The Policy applies to all funds held by or for the City , with the exception of pension funds which are administered under separate policies adopted by each Pension Plan’s Board of Trustees.
The Policy has been reviewed by the City’s Investment Manager and a team of professionals from the Association of Public Treasurers of the United States and Canada (APTUSC). After review, APTUSC awarded the City with the Investment Policy Certificate of Excellence. APTUSC recommended one change, that being the removal of Sallie-Mae as an investment option as Sallie-Mae is no longer a US Government sponsored agency.