Working Hard for Arizona Taxpayers: How the Arizona State Treasurer’s Office Benefits Local Governments, Cities, Towns and Rural Arizona

It’s been an active and exciting year for the Arizona State Treasurer’s Office. Being the first Arizona State Treasurer to visit all 15 counties in my first year in office, I’ve gained a unique perspective on the pulse of our state's economy and how our local governments, cities and towns are continuing to thrive and grow.

The State Treasurer's Office is committed to our community and business interests, and this is apparent from the expansion and launch of a variety of investment, educational and advocacy programs initiated under my direction.

In one short year, we have expanded access to the Local Government Investment Pool (LGIP) program and made it simpler and easier to invest with the Treasury than ever before. With public service at the forefront, the investing fees of the Treasury funds are a small $55 per $100,000 invested, or 5.5bps annually. The focus of the Treasury investment strategy is, “Safety before Liquidity before Yield” and it has led the Office to break multiple historical state records in just the past year alone, including:

• Distributing a record amount of earnings, $567 million, in FY 2019 to schools, state agencies and local governments
• Increasing distributions for K-12 education by $21 million in FY 2020
• Hitting a new all-time high of $3.75 billion for the state operating balance in June 2019
• Increasing deposits with a 16% YOY increase in the LGIP assets under management
• Increasing total assets under management by $2.5 billion, an overall 18% increase
• Beginning 2020 with the highest operating balance to begina new year at $3.08 billion

In addition to the exceptional investment performance by my office, I have advanced financial education as a platform issue in my administration so that all Arizonans can have the ability to attain proficiency in basic money management and the opportunity for financial freedom. My team successfully advanced a new law (S.B. 1184) requiring all Arizona students to have financial education before graduating from high school. During my travels across the state, I learned how many communities have a need for this important life skill from students to seniors, vulnerable families to military families and Veterans. Smart money management affects the overall fiscal health of our state.

During my first year, I appointed the first-ever statewide financial literacy task force aimed at ensuring all Arizonans can attain proficient financial literacy. This 17-member task force is taking steps to bring resources to students, seniors, military veterans, and vulnerable populations who need help managing their money across our great state. With members from a wide range of financial professionals to organizational and business leaders, this diverse group has hit the ground running to serve the people of Arizona.

We have ambitious plans for 2020 to continue to grow opportunities for investment and target financial transparency and accountability for Arizona taxpayers. Over the course the 2019 legislative interim, the Arizona State Treasurer’s Office was approached by several cities and towns regarding how its investment programs could help these local governments manage pension costs for their employees. This led to the introduction of S.B. 1354/H.B. 2717, which provides the State Treasurer’s Office with the authority to establish investment accounts for surplus funds that cities and towns would set aside for pension prefunding purposes. This gives cities and towns investment options for managing their pension costs and related post-employment benefits.

The Arizona State Treasurer’s Office is constantly at work so Arizonans can thrive in our expanding economy. For more information about joining our investment pools, requesting myself to speak or attend one of your events, or details on how our office is serving you, please visit our website at AzTreasury.gov or follow us on social media @AZTreasury.