It’s leveraging one of its own assets to benefit itself and other segments of the county. That’s the purpose behind the Community Investment Program, proposed by County Treasurer Stephen Burcham.

Burcham wants to take the funds the county currently has invested and then to invest them in bonds issued by other political subdivisions.

“Say a township wants to buy a road grader,” Burcham said. “Instead of their going for financing outside, I may be able to buy their bond … utilizing money invested in the county at a lower (interest) rate than at a bank and a higher rate than we get on our savings. Under the Ohio Revised Code as treasurer, I can invest in bonds issued by a political subdivision located in the county. It can’t exceed five years.”

Right now the county has approximately $12 million in investments. However, not all of this would be liquid at the same time since there are CDs maturing at different time periods.

“There are some half-million in CDs coming due shortly,” he said.

The investment would be made with the use of a bond counsel.

“I have known (this option) was out there and once I found that it was worth looking into,” Burcham said. “If they are a political subdivision, we can talk about getting it started as soon as tomorrow. … It would be a win-win.”