Responsibilities

The Treasurer's Office is responsible for a wide range of administrative and service duties as prescribed by State statutes:

1. Management of the State's cash balances, processing of checks, and the reconciliation of payroll and vendor checks.
2. Short-term investment of State funds and the issuance of tax-exempt commercial paper for temporary borrowing when necessary, as well as the selling and servicing of bonds authorized by the General Assembly.
3. Safeguarding and return of unclaimed or abandoned property, which is property for which the rightful owner cannot be located.
4. Administration of three major pension plans, the deferred compensation plan and the defined contribution plan for State employees, teachers, and participating municipalities.

Organization

The Treasurer's Office is organized into five divisions:

Financial Operations 

The Financial Operations division is responsible for the state's financial transaction services, financial management system, Act 68 (school tax) receipts, and providing information and resolving problems in the annual audit of the state's books.

1. In its role as the state's financial transaction service, Financial Operations processes approximately 1.5 million payments each year. More than one-quarter of those were conducted electronically, and the division's goal is to increase the proportion of transactions that occur electronically. This work involves extensive contact and interaction with the commercial banks that hold State of Vermont accounts.
2. The division works with commercial banks to detect potential fraud and forgeries on state checking accounts, and to find any encoding or posting errors by commercial banks on the state's accounts.
3. This division also monitors Act 68 tax receipts from towns. If a town is delinquent in its Act 68 payment, the division works with the town to obtain proper payment. Unresolved delinquencies in payments are referred to the Attorney General's Office for collection and/or prosecution.
4. Finally, Financial Operations includes Unclaimed Property. This department returns the unclaimed property to its owners. Unclaimed property is cash, stocks, bonds, security deposits, and other property that is not real estate. Banks, insurance companies, and other businesses have been holding this property for the owner, but have since lost contact with the individual. State law requires that this property be turned over to the Unclaimed Property unit, which then attempts to locate the owners and return the property to them.

Retirement Operations 

The Retirement division administers the three public retirement systems authorized by the Legislature. They are for state employees, school teachers (grades K - 12), and municipal employees. Approximately 35,000 people are covered by these retirement systems.

1. Most of the people in these three retirement systems have a Defined Benefit plan. This plan offers a monthly pension payment for life after retirement.
2. Some individuals have a Defined Contribution plan. This plan uses contributions from the employee and employer to create investment accounts for each individual. The individual employee is responsible for choosing one or more investment options from those offered by the plan. At retirement, the individual uses the accumulated investments as a retirement income.
3. Services offered to all members include retirement counseling and planning.

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Investment Services 

The Investment Services division provides short-term and long-term cash management for the State of Vermont and the three pension systems (State Employees, Teachers, and Municipal Employees) that are administered by the Treasurer's Office.

1. Short-term cash management involves daily investing of cash for the State of Vermont. This short-term investment provides a return on money that cannot be invested for long periods of time. Most of this money is operating cash that is used to pay the daily bills of state government.
2. If money can be invested over long periods of time, then it flows into the long-term cash management program. This includes restricted funds with a longer investment horizon, and the trust investment account, which is invested in equities and bonds using Vermont investment managers. In addition, the division oversees the daily management of funds for the three pension systems which come under the authority of their respective retirement boards.
3. This division also sells bonds for the State of Vermont. These bonds are sold through licensed investment firms.

Audit Compliance 

The Audit Compliance division was created in 1999 to conduct independent reviews of financial operations and controls within the State Treasurer's Office. The division determines whether acceptable policies and procedures are followed, established standards are met, and resources are used efficiently and economically.

1. Audit Compliance actively assists Financial Operations to review the more than 250 departmental cash accounts for the State of Vermont. Implementation of account controls and financial disclosure for the state's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report are part of their assistance to Financial Operations.
2. The division also reviews work by contractors who do the accounting for the state's pension investment funds; is involved in the preparation and review of the year-end pension financial statements that must conform to GASB standards; and conducts the final review on claims submitted to the Unclaimed Property unit. Finally, the Audit Division conducts special reviews at the request of the State Treasurer.

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Technology Services 

The Technology Services division is committed to providing excellent programming and technical support services to all the divisions of the Treasurer's Office. The intention is to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and security, and to contribute to the Office's commitment to a high standard of service to the State of Vermont, its clients, and its citizens. Technology Services is responsible for developing and maintaining automated systems, providing appropriate access to information, maintaining the Treasurer's Office Web site, maintaining the office network and its security, and providing automated interaction with other departments and entities outside state government.

Constitutional Officer

The State Treasurer is a Constitutional Officer of the Executive Branch of the State of Vermont. Constitutional officers are elected by the voters of Vermont to hold state-wide offices. In addition to the Treasurer, the state-wide officers are:

• Governor
• Lieutenant Governor
• Attorney General
• Auditor of Accounts
• Secretary of State

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