Item 8B on the City Commission Agenda tonight - 9/21 (consent)

The excerpt above is from the back-up material.

This interest rate on utility deposits is adjusted every year, so the adjustment is not noteworthy, other than the rate being an extremely low .28 percent from .75 percent set last year.  The reason why it's of interest (no pun intended) now is that it is a peak at the city's "cash portfolio" and that .28 percent the city is paying for holding on to customer money is its cost of capital for $4.7 million.

This is the same "cash portfolio" that the city is using to loan itself money to rehabilitate the casino building, with the hope that some bank (?) will come through (?) and lend the city money (?) on a permanent basis (?).  Whether this will actually come to pass is conjecture, but it makes me wonder at what interest rate the city will pay itself back?  If it's higher than the .28 percent, I would say that the people whose money is being held - utility customers in and outside the city limits - should be paid back at that rate, not the .28 percent.

If you look at it this way, this item shouldn't be on consent and should be discussed given all of the talk about the city's "cash portfolio."  And it's convenient that there is no public comment on consent agenda items - unless perhaps pulled by the Mayor or a Commissioner.