OFFICE OF THE CITY TREASURER

KATHLEEN E. PALM

City of Hartford Treasurer and Secretary of the Pension Commission

Role of the City Treasurer:

Under the Charter of the City of Hartford, the City Treasurer is the custodian and investor of all City funds.  

Read below for information about:

• Biography of City Treasurer Kathleen Palm

• Bond Issuance

• Cash Management

• City Treasurer Palm's Philosophy and Goals

• Directory of City Treasurer's Office Staff

• Goals of the City Treasurer’s Office

• Pension Benefit Administration

• Pension Fund

The Treasurer:

• Invests the assets of the City’s pension fund

• Administers the City’s deferred compensation program

• Administers all pension benefits

• Manages all City cash and conducts all banking relations

• Serves as co-issuer with the Mayor of all City bonds

• Invests and disburses City trust funds 

• Serves as consultant to City Council and administration on pension, debt management, cash-management and related matters

Values and Mission:

The values and mission of the City Treasurer’s Office are as follows:

• Maintain honesty and integrity in all fiscal operations

• Strive for excellence in all we do

• Provide excellent customer service

• Work to enhance and celebrate diversity

• Build teamwork within the office and in our relations with others in City government 

• Foster excellent communication with each other and the public

• Insist on civility and respect for others

• When and where possible, recruit and retain minority and female-owned businesses and those located in the City of Hartford for Treasury contracts and business

City Treasurer Palm’s Philosophy and Goals:

• Continue tradition of excellence and integrity that has characterized the City Treasurer’s Office for decades

• Preserve health and strength of pension fund through prudent, conservative investing

• Respond to challenges in most cost-effective and customer-friendly manner

• Continue to develop depth of Treasury staff to serve needs of taxpayers, retirees and employees; recruit and mentor staff to develop home-grown fiduciaries of the future

• Serve as City’s fiscal watchdog in pension and cash-management areas

• Leverage powers and authority of office to improve quality of life for Hartford residents, business climate for Hartford businesses and relieve cost to taxpayers
  

Highlights -- Pension Fund:

• Assets at approximately $1 billion, despite tough and volatile markets

• Success of investment program means lower cost of pension fund to City taxpayers through required contributions from the City as employer.

• No radical changes in investment philosophy or practice; we have maintained conservative, prudent stance; replaced weaker managers with stronger ones

• Portfolio further diversified to capture higher returns, potentially permit investment in Hartford through economically targeted investments (ETIs) and private equity

• Have maintained health and strength of pension fund as one of key components in City’s excellent bond credit rating

• Hired senior investment professional to serve as Director of Investments

• More than 40% of MERF trades placed through brokerage houses with local Hartford offices and emerging (female and minority-owned) firms

• Emphasis placed on recruiting minority-owned asset managers

• Hired new custodian bank that has committed $500,000 in new corporate giving to Hartford

Highlights – Cash Management:

• Invested City’s temporarily idle cash aggressively to capture higher returns – this helps relieve pressure on the General Fund and taxpayers

• Cleaned up old bank accounts; streamlined and maintained bank accounts

• Monitored bank mergers and acquisitions to ensure that branch system does not diminish in Hartford 

• Invests in programs that help City neighborhoods

• Instituted program to regularize unclaimed property reporting to State Treasurer as required by law

Highlights -- Pension Benefit Administration:

• Pension payments now total $65 million per year;  3,000 retirees are reliably paid each month

• Conducted full-blown study of pension unit to find ways to improve delivery of services to City employees and retirees at lower cost to the taxpayers

• As a result, completely reorganized pension-benefit unit

• Hired senior benefits professional who is an actuary to oversee unit

• Recruited diverse staff of seasoned benefits professionals to staff unit

• Reduced cycle time for processing of benefit claims from several months to seven business days

• Advised City administration and City Council on cost to taxpayers of proposed pension enhancements

Highlights – Bond Issuance:

• City Treasurer is, with Mayor, co-issuer of all City bonds

• Worked to maintain excellent bond credit rating through strength of the pension fund and good fiscal management

• Bond credit rating remains investment grade, means lower cost to taxpayers

• Have acted as strong advocate within City Hall for adherence to City’s long-standing conservative debt policies, including keeping City borrowing below statutorily permitted aggregate indebtedness (no more than seven times annual receipts from taxation, by state law) and maintenance of ample fund balance

• Managed major borrowings: regular general obligation bond issues for improvements to schools, roads, libraries, etc.

• Worked  to regularize methods by which City selects underwriters, financial advisors and underwriters’ counsel; issued Request for Proposals; hired female and minority underwriters and underwriters’ counsel

Goals:

In the coming fiscal year, we plan to: 

• Continue to try to find ways to relieve budgetary pressure on the City

• Seek out ways to invest a limited portion of pension-fund dollars (no more than 4%-5%) in alternative investments, including economically targeted investments that will benefit Hartford  

• Continue to drive down banking fees and/or get commitments for more goods and services from financial service providers

• Develop new pension manual for employees

Biography of Kathleen E. Palm, Hartford City Treasurer

Re-elected to office in November 2003, Hartford City Treasurer Kathleen E. Palm was first elected to the office in 1999, after serving four years as Assistant City Treasurer to Denise L. Nappier, who is now Connecticut’s State Treasurer.

As City Treasurer, Ms. Palm is custodian of all City funds, with fiduciary responsibility to Hartford’s taxpayers and retirees.  She oversees and invests Hartford’s $1-billion pension fund and all City trust funds, manages the City’s $425-million annual cash-flow, and is co-issuer of all City bonds.

Ms. Palm served for several years on the executive staff of the Connecticut State Treasurer.  A former editorial writer for The Hartford Courant and reporter for United Press International, Ms. Palm is a graduate of Manhattanville College and a member of the Government Finance Officers Association, Council of Institutional Investors and Institute for Fiduciary Education.

A third-generation native of Hartford, Ms. Palm lives in Asylum Hill.  A member of the Urban League and NAACP, she serves on the boards of the Artists Collective, Friends of Keney Park, the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center and Asylum Hill Boys and Girls Club Development Association and the Hartford Circus Fire Memorial Foundation. 

Directory of City Treasurer’s Office Staff