One of State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell’s first initiatives when taking office in 2017 was to cut Wall Street fees and other investment costs associated with the $115 billion pension plans. He pledged to cut $100 million in fees during his first term in office. It was announced during a recent Investment Advisory Committee meeting that that goal had been exceeded by 250%, resulting in more than $350 million in incremental cost-efficiencies as of Dec. 31, 2020, for the North Carolina Retirement Systems’ (NCRS) investment program.
The Local Government Commission (LGC) has approved a request by rapidly-growing Union County to borrow up to $331 million in bonds to build new water and sewer system infrastructure and upgrade existing facilities.The LGC, chaired by State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA, and staffed by Department of State Treasurer personnel, convened remotely at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 2, to consider numerous requests from local government units across the state to borrow money or refinance existing debt at lower interest rates.
State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA, announced today the results of the 2021 Debt Affordability Study, advising the Governor and General Assembly on the estimated debt capacity of the General and Transportation Funds for the upcoming 10 fiscal years.
The Department of State Treasurer (DST) has successfully answered the million-dollar question of whether there is a quicker way to distribute some of the unclaimed property in its vaults, and more than 15,000 people are richer for it. State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA, announced DST’s Unclaimed Property Division (UPD) has sent out $1,084,045 to 15,816 recipients through a new initiative called NCCash Match. The program is designed to eliminate paperwork and speed up the process to return unclaimed money in DST’s possession to its rightful owners.
State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA, heralded today the anniversary of Rotary International (Rotary) and its 116 years of uniting friends, neighbors and leaders to take action in creating lasting change across the world, at home and in ourselves.Rotary was started in Chicago, Ill., on Feb. 23, 1905 by Chicago attorney Paul Harris. There are currently more than 1.2 million worldwide members of the organization comprised of professionals and business leaders in over 32,000 clubs in 200 countries.
The first round of study grants approved under a new program could lead to solutions for utility infrastructure woes threatening the financial stability of three distressed local governments.
North Carolina State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA, and the Retirement Systems Division announced today that the investment return assumption or rate of return (RoR) for the principal North Carolina Retirement Systems (Fund) will be lowered 50 basis points from 7.0% to 6.5% per year. The change will be recognized immediately for financial reporting and calculating the funded percentage level, but for the purpose of determining employer contribution rates, the effect will be phased in over a period of five years.
In an effort to increase the number of COVID-19 vaccines administered in the state, State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA, and the State Health Plan (SHP) are calling for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) to provide vaccines and allow primary care physicians, pediatricians and all pharmacies to administer the shots. North Carolina has lagged the nation in administering the allotted vaccines to its population.
Despite economic upheaval, massive job losses, business shutdowns, and uncertainty in the investment market throughout 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state pension plan achieved a record $114.9 billion valuation entering 2021.
With an eye toward the magnitude of the state’s combined unfunded pension and retiree health care costs, State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA, said it is imperative the state’s capacity for future borrowing is accurately calculated to avoid fiscal strain and budget predicaments.