§ 2-131. Generally.

(a)

[In General.]

(1)

The parish shall invest in only those investments allowed under LSA-RS 33:2955 and shall follow the provisions of this statute. Accordingly, the parish is authorized to invest such monies in any general fund or special fund of the political subdivision, and any other funds under the control of the political subdivision which the parish or political subdivision determines to be available for investment in any of the following obligations:

a.

Direct U.S. Treasury obligations, the principal and interest of which are fully guaranteed by the government of the United States. Bonds, debentures, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness issued or guaranteed by federal agencies and provided such obligations are backed by the United States of America, which obligations included but are not limited to (1) U.S. Export-Import Bank; (2) Farmers Home Administration; (3) Federal Financing Bank; (4) Federal Housing Administration Debentures; (5) General Services Administration; (6) Government National Mortgage Association guaranteed mortgage-backed bonds and guaranteed pass-through obligations; (7) U.S. Maritime Administration-guaranteed Title XI financing; and (8) U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (ii) Bonds, debentures, notes or other evidence of indebtedness issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government instrumentalities, which are federally sponsored, and such obligations include but are not limited to (1) Federal Home Loan Bank System; (2) Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation; (3) Federal National Mortgage Association; (4) Student Loan Marketing Association; and (5) Resolution Funding Corporation.

b.

Notwithstanding the foregoing list of investments, in no instance shall the parish invest in obligations described in (1) and (ii) of the subsection which are (a) collateralized mortgage obligations that have been stripped into interest only or principal only obligations, (b) inverse floaters, or (c) structured notes. For the purposes of this section "structured notes" shall mean securities of U.S. government agencies, instrumentalities, or government-sponsored enterprises which have been restructured, modified, and/or reissued by private entities.

c.

Direct security repurchase agreements of federal book entry only securities enumerated in paragraph a. and b. "Direct security repurchase agreement" means an agreement under which the political subdivision buys, holds for a specified time, and then sells back those securities and obligations enumerated in subparagraphs a. and b.

d.

Time certificates of deposit of state banks organized under the laws of Louisiana, or national banks having their principal offices in the State of Louisiana, savings accounts or shares of savings and loan associations and savings banks, as defined by R.S. 6:703(15) and (16), or share accounts and share certificate accounts of federally or state chartered credit unions issuing time certificates of deposit. For those funds made available for investment in time certificates of deposit, the rate of interest paid by the banks shall be established by contract between the bank and the parish council; however, the interest rate at the time of investment shall be a rate not less than fifty basis points below the prevailing market of interest rate on direct obligations of the United States Treasury with a similar length of maturity.

e.

Mutual or trust fund institutions which are registered with the securities and exchange commission under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Investment Act of 1940, and which have underlying investments consisting solely of and limited to securities of the United States government or its agencies.

f.

Funds invested in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 33:2955(A)(1)(d) shall not exceed at any time the amount insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in any one banking institution, or in any one savings and loan association, or National Credit Union Administration, unless the uninsured portion is collateralized by the pledge of securities in the manner provided in R.S. 39:1221. Also, the banks shall monthly report to the director of finance the collateral pledged to secure the deposits of the parish as defined by the Fiscal Agency Agreement. Derivations are not acceptable as collateral.

g.

Guaranteed investment contracts issued by a bank, financial institution, insurance company, or other entity having one of the two highest short-term rating categories of either Standard & Poor's Corporation or Moody's Investors Service, provided that no such investment may be made except in connection with a financing program for political subdivision which financing program is approved by the state bond commission and offered by a public trust having the state as its beneficiary, provided further that no such investment shall be for a term longer than 18 months, and provided further that any such guaranteed investment contract shall contain a provision providing that in the event the issuer of the guaranteed investment contract is at any time no longer rated in either of the two highest short-term rating categories of Standard & Poor's Corporation or Moody's Investors Service, the investing unit of local government may either be released from the guaranteed investment contract without penalty, or be entitled to require that the guaranteed investment provider collateralize the guaranteed investment contract with any bonds or other obligations which as to principal and interest constitute direct general obligation of, or are unconditionally guaranteed the United States of America, including obligations set forth in subparagraph a. and b. to the extent unconditionally guaranteed by the United States of America.

(2)

Investment funds in such mutual or trust fund institutions shall be limited to 25 percent of the monies considered available for investment as provided by this section. In no event shall monies be considered available for investment as provided by this section. In no event shall monies be considered available for investment under the authority of this section unless and until such funds are determined by the treasurer of chief financial officer of the parish, in the exercise of prudent judgment, to be in excess of the immediate cash requirements of the fund to which the monies are credited. As a criteria in making such a determination, any amount of money exceeding $10,000.00 which is on demand deposit to the credit of the parish, of to the credit of any fund and which is not required to meet an obligation for at least 45 days, or any amount of money exceeding $100,000.00 which is on demand to the credit of a subdivision or to the credit of any fund and which is not required to meet an obligation for at least 15 days shall be construed available for investment.

(3)

Nothing in this section shall be construed as to abrogate, impair, or supersede the ability of the parish from combining monies from several funds in order to invest such monies at a better rate of return.

(b)

The interest earned on bonds, notes or certificates, time certificates of deposit, or mutual or trust fund investments, so purchased shall be credited by the respective subdivision to the fund from which the bonds, notes or certificates, time certificates of deposit, or mutual trust fund investments, were acquired, or it may be applied to the payment of the principal and interest of the outstanding bonded indebtedness of the respective subdivision.

(c)

At any time that may be deemed advisable the subdivision may cash and liquidate any of the investments authorized herein which are purchased for any particular fund. The proceeds of any such liquidation shall be credited to the fund from which the authorized investments were originally purchased.

(Ord. No. 1318, 10-9-96)