Somerset County commissioners versus treasurer lawsuit goes before judges
Solicitors for both Somerset County commissioners and county treasurer argued their case on who manages the county funds, specifically in this case financial investments of those local funds, before the three county judges Monday.
The Somerset County Commissioners — Gerald Walker, Pamela Tokar-Ickes and Colleen Dawson — filed a lawsuit on Oct. 18 against county Treasurer Anthony "Tony" DeLuca asking the court basically to decide who has the authority over the county's fiscal investments.
"This is a question of purely the law," said President Judge D. Gregory Geary at the beginning of the hearing.
The judges, sitting en blanc, took the arguments under advisement Monday and said they will issue an opinion. The time for them to do so was not discussed at the hearing other than it would be in a timely fashion.
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The commissioners asked the court to determine whether the treasurer can refuse to sign a payment for a transaction approved by the commissioners. DeLuca said in a court brief that he may not be compelled to complete a financial transaction by the commissioners when he doesn't approve.
DeLuca stated the commissioner's position usurps his right to approve the investment of county funds by creating an investment policy that excludes his approval. He may not be compelled to complete a financial transaction by the commissioners when he doesn't approve, he said.
In response, county Solicitor Michael Barbera argued before the court that "they (treasurers) are elected to county office to count the money, not to say how it is spent.
"All we want, all we are asking is the treasurer to follow the law," Barbera said.
How it started
During a commissioner's public meeting Aug. 30, DeLuca suggested that the board consider investing county general funds with First National Bank in a money market and Certificate of Deposit, aka CD, accounts.
In recent years, investment options have been "rather limited because many acceptable investments vehicles offered only nominal interest rates," according to the commissioners. But recent increased interest rates have made these investments "more attractive."
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The board asked DeLuca what interest rates of other banks were offering and he said he did not know. The commissioners then directed DeLuca "to seek rate quotes from other financial institutions as well," according to the lawsuit.
He did not do so.
In the following regular public meeting two weeks later, the commissioners determined that the Pennsylvania Local Government Investment Trust, aka PLGIT, was, at that time, offering the best interest rates. The board adopted a resolution to move county funds to PLGIT. DeLuca did not vote on this matter as he believed he has the right to do so by county code. The commissioners disagree, which has become contentious between the commissioners and the treasurer and one of the main issues that is now before the county judges.
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It was DeLuca's "exclusion" as the county treasurer from "anything that deals with investments" of county funds that is another main issues in the case, according to the treasurer's solicitor Davi Leake.
"Treasurer DeLuca is not just an administrator (of county funds). He is an elected official who does have authority in county finances," he said.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Somerset County judges hear commissioners v treasurer arguments
