Kentucky State Treasury
Jonathan Miller, Treasurer

Kentucky State Treasury - Investing In Kentucky's Future

The Kentucky Treasury has been with the state as long as there's been a Kentucky. The treasurer was one of the original offices created by the state Constitution of Kentucky in 1792. The Kentucky Treasurer is elected every 4 years. The treasurer, who can serve two terms, acts as the state's chief elected fiscal officer.

Jonathan Miller, of Lexington, is Kentucky's 36th Treasurer.

As our economy changes, and as technology increases opportunities and challenges for everyone, state government must keep pace, ensuring that it is acting in the best interests of taxpayers. Jonathan Miller believes that everything done in the Treasury of Kentucky should be an investment - an investment in Kentucky's future.

Investing In Kentucky's Future

As the first treasurer of the new millennium, Jonathan Miller is committed to programs that will invest in Kentucky's future - the future of our children, the future of Kentucky families, the future use of our tax dollars.

Consider some of the ways Treasurer Jonathan Miller is investing in Kentucky's future:

• Creating a guaranteed, prepaid college tuition savings plan. Approved unanimously in the January 2000 legislative session by both houses of the Kentucky General Assembly, Kentucky's Affordable Prepaid Tuition Plan (KAPT) will allow families to pay for tomorrow's tuition at today's lower prices. It's a safe, simple and effective way for families to invest in the future educational needs of their children. More Information on Kentucky's Affordable Prepaid Tuition Plan

• Building a lottery that helps more children receive a college education. As a member of the lottery board, Treasurer Miller is working to ensure that the revenues generated are sufficient to fund the KEES program, which rewards graduating high school seniors with scholarships for college. Lottery Web Site

• Working to help taxpayers determine if they are owed unclaimed property. The treasurer's office administers the state's unclaimed property fund program. Unclaimed property generally consists of payroll checks, unclaimed safety deposit boxes and vendor checks that have remained unclaimed by their owners after several years. After a period of time, usually 7 years, banks and other financial institutions turn over the unclaimed property to the State Treasury. The program works to find taxpayers who are owed money or assets from the fund. The Unclaimed Property Fund contains assets of about $37 million. It grows at a rate of about $7 million a year. More Information on Unclaimed Property

Ensuring that the state's investments get the best possible return.

As vice chairman of the state investment commission, Treasurer Miller is monitoring the state's investments of more than $3 billion so that state government receives the best possible return. The State Investment Commission is charged with the oversight of Kentucky's investment programs. The state's investments fall into four primary categories:

• The Short-term pool that consists primarily of general fund cash balances and provides liquidity for the remaining investment pools;
• The Intermediate-term Pool represents agency fund investments, state held component unit and fiduciary fund accounts;
• The Long-term Pool invests the budget reserve trust fund account and any other funds deemed appropriate for the pool where the need for liquidity is not a serious concern;
• A remaining fund is the Bond Proceed Pool in which capital construction bond proceeds are invested.

The Office of Financial Management is the administrative arm for the investment commission. The Office of Financial Management analyzes and manages the state's short-term and long-term cash flow requirements and seeks to maximize the return on Kentucky investments. The office also develops a long-term debt plan for the state. More information on OFMEA.

Working in the best interests of retired teachers.

Treasurer Miller believes that quality education needs a continuum of care and concern. As a member of the board of directors for the Kentucky Retired Teachers' System, Jonathan Miller oversees the pensions and savings of our teachers.
More Information on KTRS

Ensuring Kentucky Revenues Are Safeguarded

The Treasury of Kentucky is the chief clearinghouse for revenues that flow into state government. The numbers - in terms of money transactions and the processing of checks -- are mind-boggling.

To understand the day-to-day work of the treasury, consider these financial nuggets from fiscal year 1999:

• The Treasury Department made electronic deposits of $224,838,129,975.61.
• The department processed $6,237,072,218.49 in checks and cash, including payroll checks, tax refunds, Kentucky employee retirement, Medial, Medicaid and other critical payments.
• Some 4,100,674 checks were deposited.
• $228,381,140,441.40 in wire transfers were made.
• 7,393,114 checks were written.
• $10,60,925,943.08 in checks were written.
• $1,368,271.00 in Automatic Clearinghouse transactions were made.

Other Treasury Functions

The Treasury of Kentucky also performs the following functions:

• Records, verifies and pays all federal, state and local withholding taxes for employees of the Commonwealth.
• Implements court ordered attachments against the salaries of state employees or moneys owed to state vendors.
• Makes timely deposit of incoming revenues from state agencies.
• Records, monitors and reconciles all transactions in the state's depository and checking accounts.
• Performs critical functions that ensure compliance with the Federal Cash Management Act of 1990.
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