Trumbull County panel reviews $138.8 million portfolio, projects about $4.2M in 2026 income

The Trumbull County Investment Advisory Committee accepted its fourth-quarter 2025 investment report at a meeting on Jan. 29, where outside portfolio manager Jim McCourt of METR described the newly constructed portfolio and the committee’s strategy for locking in multi-year rates.

McCourt told the committee the portfolio held in custody at US Bank had a book value of roughly $138,800,000 and a laddered maturity structure with a weighted average maturity near 2.6 years. “We have roughly a $138,800,000 in in book value,” McCourt said while summarizing the portfolio’s structure and custody arrangements.

Why it matters: the committee’s strategy aims to balance near-term liquidity with longer maturities to protect income if market interest rates decline. McCourt said the county’s policy limits investments to a maximum five-year maturity, so the strategy mixes locked multi-year securities with a liquid reserve such as STAR Ohio to meet operating cash needs.

McCourt explained accounting details that affected the quarter’s reported figures: when the manager buys bonds between coupon dates, the transaction includes purchased accrued interest that appears as a negative cash-basis interest entry at settlement but is recouped when the bond’s next coupon is paid. “If you buy a bond in between those coupon periods, essentially, you owe the seller from the last period to the date that you bought the bond,” McCourt said, noting that cash-basis reporting shows that as negative interest at settlement.

On performance, the treasurer said December receipts were unusually strong, including $108,755.39 received from Farmers, and that the county exceeded the budgeted annual interest target of $4.5 million, reaching about $4.95 million. McCourt presented baseline income projections derived from current securities of roughly $4.2 million for 2026, about $3.6 million for 2027 and over $3.0 million for 2028; those figures do not include future reinvestments or an approximately $100,000-per-month contribution from Farmers that staff noted separately.

Committee members asked how investment income is allocated among county funds. McCourt and staff said investment income is credited pro rata to the participating funds in the pooled portfolio and that the county auditor posts distributions. Committee members requested further clarification from auditor staff about the mechanics and the county’s “900” investment fund accounting.

The committee voted to accept the investment report. The roll call recorded Commissioner Tony Bernard, Randy Lawton and Treasurer Augustino Ragazino voting yes; other commissioners were recorded as absent. The manager said staff will continue monthly reporting and provide further detail on fund allocation on request.

What’s next: staff agreed to reprint the updated meeting and policy dates with the corrected schedule for signatures and to follow up with auditor staff to explain how income is apportioned to the general fund and other participating funds.