By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — The impact of increased interest rates has benefited Kosciusko County investment efforts, according to County Treasurer Michelle Puckett.
Puckett reported revenues from interest on investments in 2023 totaled $5.2 million — a $3.2 million increase over the previous year when it was about $1.9 million.
The difference is even more stark compared to revenues from 2021 during the pandemic, which only accrued $368,000 in interest revenue.
That massive jump in the past two years underscores how much interest rates have changed.
“In 2021, they were using the same program, but we were just coming out of COVID, so the interest rates were low, people were buying houses because interest rates were low, there was a lot of activity, and as that interest rate has increased from ’21 to ’22 to ’23, that’s really why we’re seeing the large increase that we have on the interest on investments,” Puckett said.
Much of that money will be shifted to the general fund to provide the county with a healthier cash balance, she said.
