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Treasurer: Investments stabilized Colo.
State's credit rating remains up
Herald Staff Writer
"We look weekly, even daily, at numbers that used to be looked at much less frequently," said Kennedy, who was elected in 2006. "My mark on the office was ending in 2007 the investment of $2 billion, one-third of our portfolio, in one bank."
All the funds were returned to the state treasury seven months before the banking crisis hit, she said. Many states lost on such security lending, but not Colorado, she said.
"People thought big financial institutions were invincible," Kennedy said. "No huge bank had failed since the Great Depression."
In just-ended fiscal 2009, the state earned 3 percent - $177 million - on its investments, Kennedy said.
Colorado is in position to meet cash-flow demands because a large percent of its investment pool is liquid, which avoids having to sell securities early to meet debts, she said. Her office monitors the state cash flow daily and posts the monthly cash flow - actual and forecast - on the Treasury Web site.
The state's credit rating remains strong, Kennedy said. As evidence, she said, Colorado: ranks 45th among states on tax-supported debt per capita (a good position); saved $77 million by financing the construction of a justice center and history museum in Denver with Build American Bonds because 35 percent of the interest is paid by the federal government; and saved $87 million through the Building Excellent Schools Today program because the federal government pays all interest on BEST financing.
Mancos School District RE-6 will receive $456,000 to renovate Mancos Middle School, and Silverton School District No. 1 will receive $11.8 million to renovate its K-12 school through BEST funding this fiscal year, Kennedy said. The treasury's role in certificate of participation financing brought Fort Lewis College $3.2 million to renovate Berndt Hall.
Kennedy's wide-ranging comments, included:•The state received more than $5 billion in Recovery Act funds, including $780 million to stabilize the state budget.
•A Web site www.greatco payback.com contains $400 million worth of unclaimed property of 1.5 million people.
•Colorado is 46th among states in the percentage of personal income paid in taxes.
•Overall economic recovery will be slow because the system was over-leveraged at the time of the fall.
•Gov. Bill Ritter has done a good job in balancing the 2010 budget through a number of measures - a hiring freeze, 270 layoffs spread over agencies, no salary increases for state employees through 2011 and assuring minimum impact of measures on the most vulnerable segments of the population.
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