Rice County Auditor/Treasurer Fran Windschitl told the County Board of Commissioners Committee of the Whole on Tuesday that investing is very challenging these days.

The chief financial official in the county says Rice County has about $41 million in reserves and said the maturity composition varies.

Windschitl said about $10 million is in either negotiable or direct Certificates of Deposit with banks with a zero- to three-month maturity. About $23 million is intermediate between one and five years and $4.1 million has long-term maturities in the portfolio.

The county auditor/treasurer added the current average interest rate on a 10-year CD is 1.77 percent and the county is earning 2.39 percent on its entire portfolio, including checking and savings accounts. He said the interest earnings are ahead of projections for the year, with the first-quarter earnings about $324,000, and they budgeted for about $900,000.

Windschitl said a number of municipal bonds were called that provided a nice return on investment and he is trying to turn the lower interest CDs into higher interest ones.

Commissioner Steve Bauer asked about step-up CDs and Windschitl said the county did have some in their portfolio.

The interest on fixed income investments totaled just under 3 percent, with an $880,000 total gain.

Rice County Auditor/Treasurer Fran Windschitl
Rice County Auditor/Treasurer Fran Windschitl
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