Town Finance Director Glenys Salas asked the Board of Selectmen to place a $100,000 borrowing cap on Edmond Town Hall at a meeting on March 17.

Salas said the financial relationship between ETH and the town’s General Fund has been “complex,” with ETH in September 2024 owing over $300,000 it had borrowed. Salas said she had talked with the ETH Board of Managers, and “they had been doing very good” for the last several months, recently getting the debt down to $117,000.

In February, however, the managers expressed interest in re-investing funds that had matured in ETH’s multi-bank securities account, and Salas “pushed back” because she felt they should continue lowering the debt to “below $100,000 or close to zero.”

However, Salas said the Board of Managers had a meeting to which she was not invited, during which they chose to re-invest the funds anyway.

“So to me, that is very concerning,” Salas said. “That money is being invested for interest for them to keep, while the General Fund is being tapped for interest free loans. It’s complex because they were allowed to borrow significant amounts of money from the general fund.”

Salas felt a $100,000 cap would be enough to allow ETH to move its accounts payable and payroll through the General Fund, but keep the overall debt in check.

Salas also wanted to be placed as a signatory on ETH’s accounts.

Selectman Michelle Embree Ku said she felt the issue may be one of communication and wanted the perspective of the Board of Managers. She also wanted a legal opinion on whether it would be legal for Salas to be on the ETH accounts.

The enabling legislation for Edmond Town Hall makes financial decisions the purview of the Board of Managers; however, they are supposed to submit receipts to the “town treasurer,” in this case Salas, which they have not been doing.

Salas felt the town was at the Board of Managers’ “mercy” in whether they receive checks or not paying back the debt.

Salas said most other funds of town agencies are accessible to the finance director, making the ETH situation unique.

The request was tabled until the meeting of April 7.

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Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.