LA PALMA : County Won’t Be City Investment Option

As the saying goes: Once bitten, twice shy.

The city, which had $5 million in the Orange County investment pool when the fund collapsed last year, approved a policy this week that forbids putting any city money into county hands.

Revisions in La Palma’s fiscal policy were made after the city’s attorney, auditor and finance director called for limiting investments to a narrow range of “authorized instruments” such as U.S. Treasury bills.

The county government “is no longer one of the investment instruments allowed by our policy,” Olivia F. Silverio, the city’s finance director, said at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

The city has recovered about $4 million of its investment in the county pool but is still seeking to recoup the final $1 million.

The new policy also sets percentage limits on how much may be invested with any agency or institution--not more than 20%, for instance, in savings accounts, and not more than 50% with federal agencies.

Silverio described the new investment policy as “very conservative, very safe.”