Treasurer Role

Tina M. Vernon is the elected treasurer for the County of Nevada and is also the ex officio treasurer for every public entity within the geographic boundary of Nevada County. Those entities include:

• Agencies
• All school districts
• Cemetery districts
• The county's departments and districts
• Fire districts
• Water districts

The exceptions are:

• The three incorporated cities
• Nevada Irrigation District
• Truckee Fire Department

All money belonging to the public entities must be deposited with the county treasurer. The public entities draw upon these funds to pay for their budgeted expenses. The treasurer must have cash available to meet the cash flow demands for all of the collective entities. While the public entity's money is "idle," it is safely invested. Cash flow projections are used to forecast their future demands. The investments are designed to mature in such a way as to provide liquidity and maximize the interest income.

Investments

Investing public funds is a very specialized and a restricted type of investing. State laws dictate the types of investments that treasurers can use. In Nevada County, the Treasurer has added further restrictions on public fund investments and holds the Prudent Investor Standard in the highest regard.

Standards

The Prudent Investor Standard states: "A California trustee must follow the "prudent investor" standard, exercising reasonable care and skill in managing the trust assets, just as if she were prudently investing her own money. Anyone evaluating the trustee should judge how her decisions affect the trust as a whole, rather than in isolation. A trustee is legally obligated to diversify the trust investments whenever that makes financial sense and must not run up excessive costs managing the trust."