VILLA PARK : Council Votes to Invest in State Pool
In light of Orange County’s recent financial woes, the City Council has voted to deposit its money in a state-run investment pool.
The decision, made at the council’s Dec. 20 meeting, reversed an investment policy that council members approved earlier this year.
Last February, the council voted to switch most of the city’s investments from the state fund into the one operated by former Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron. The council simultaneously put a $250,000 lid on the amount of city funds it would allow in the state pool.
Mayor Bob Patchin said the council decided in February to deposit its money with the county because “last winter, the county was paying over three percentage points more than the state.”
The Villa Park city government had invested about $1.3 million of its funds in the county pool by early December, when the county declared bankruptcy.
At the Dec. 20 meeting, City Manager Fred Maley asked that the $250,000 city-imposed lid on state investments be lifted so Villa Park could once more put most of its idle funds with the state.
The council approved the request unanimously. Patchin told the council audience that the city had been misled about Citron’s county investment pool.
“We made the mistake, along with others, of trusting the wrong expert,” Patchin said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
