In 1992, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors adopted the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Program to encourage financial institutions to be active in supporting the local community. Nearly 28 years later, the program is still going strong.
The CRA Program authorizes the placement of public deposits from the County’s
Pooled Investment Fund in one-year, fixed-rate certificates of deposit with qualified financial institutions that meet the credit needs of the community, including credit unions and community banks.
“This year, we have raised the maximum deposit per bank amount from $10 million to $20 million,” said Dave Matuskey, Sacramento County Investment Officer. “The size of the deposit we make is dependent on the level of lending activity in low-and moderate-income neighborhoods in Sacramento County.”
Qualified banks must have a Community Reinvestment Act rating of “satisfactory” or better and offer a competitive yield. Credit rating requirements are waived for deposits covered by Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance, including deposits made through a placement service such as the Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service (CDARS).
The CRA Program previously accepted applications from banks on a continuous basis, but with the recent addition of certificates of deposit purchased through a placement service, such as CDARS, as an authorized investment for the Pooled Investment Fund, the county now has an annual application period every March.
Completed application and supplemental documents should be mailed to:
Ben Lamera, Director of Finance
County of Sacramento
700 H Street, Room
3650 Sacramento, CA 95814