Marshall Plan: A 7-Point Plan to Improve the Treasurer’s Office

1. Improve and implement electronic transfers.

Use new but proven technology to implement electronic scanning and the electronic transfer of funds from the Nevada Treasurer’s office to various banks.

This plan will eliminate the expenses wasted on armored vehicle transfer and old technology to save taxpayers’ dollars.

And because of the time saved and the security of electronic transfers and scanning, the state will invest its funds more quickly. The result: a larger return on the state’s investments, more funds for the state’s coffers and a tax savings.

2. Renegotiate fees with credit card companies.

I believe we can save taxpayers and our state millions of dollars in transaction fees currently charged by certain credit card companies to the State when Nevadans use such credit cards to pay fees or taxes to the state.

Currently, such transaction fees at the DMV alone cost Taxpayers approximately three million dollars a year; money which comes directly out of the State Transportation funds. A reduction in these fees would free up more money to build and maintain our roads.

3. Actively manage Nevada’s acquired asset portfolio.

I will actively manage our state’s acquired asset portfolio (sometimes called the Nevada Unclaimed Property Fund), adding millions of dollars in revenue to the State’s General Fund.

The common term, Unclaimed Property Fund, makes it sound like a lost and found department. In reality, Unclaimed Property is most frequently inactive bank accounts, refund checks, and back pay owed to people who left no forwarding address. The State of Nevada is to make a diligent effort to find the proper owner first. When that fails, the assets come under ownership of the state. They are invested and managed by the State Treasurer.

Through active investment and management of the state’s acquired asset portfolio, online auctioning and aggressive marketing, my plan can bring an estimated $10 million dollars of additional revenue in to the State’s General Fund.

4. Restructure the Unclaimed Properties Division website to make it user friendly and easier for Nevadans to find and reclaim money due to them.

The current site, changed several years ago, actually hides records from those searching for money due to them. If you are a minor, hold a joint account with someone, had money held to benefit you, or even if you have a common last name, you may never be able to find the information you are looking for on the current site.

Untold amounts of money—some of it significant—will never be found using the website. Nevadans deserve to get their money—not roadblocks-- and Kate Marshall will make it easier for them.

5. Reduce internal spending.

I will initiate good business practices to reduce internal spending in the State Treasurer’s Office.

I will review all contracts and agreements for cost effectiveness, a common practice in the private sector. I’ll work with financial vendors and advisers, negotiating lower fees and reducing the costs the state pays to manage its finances.

With a decrease in internal spending costs, we will invest these saved dollars in our state’s investment portfolios, creating a larger return for our state, more dollars for state services, and a reduced burden on taxpayers.

6. Implement the Research Alliance Plan.

I support the Research Alliance Plan, a plan to use unclaimed assets to support bonds for a State of Nevada Research and Development Fund.

The concept, pioneered successfully by the State of Georgia, provides funding to state institutions of higher education which have the potential to contribute to the economic development of the state. This program, if implemented in Nevada, could make our state attractive to top scientists, economists, engineers and other experts and expand our efforts to diversify the economy and create new jobs for Nevada.

The current State Treasurer attempted to pass this plan through the state legislature in 2005 but ran short of time. Kate Marshall will work with leaders from both sides of the political aisle to ensure passage and success of this program, moving Nevada’s economy forward.

7. Initiate discussion with the Nevada State Legislature, the Governor and the Nevada Board of Regents to find solutions to the Millennium Scholarship Program crisis.

If Nevada fails to produce a new generation of well-educated people to join our workforce, we will have serious problems. I favor a policy of course corrections now instead of more costly emergency intervention later.

Nevada families—parents and their college-age children—count on the Millennium Scholarship Program to help those Nevada kids pay for college. Continuing the MSP requires the work of the Treasurer, the Governor, the State Legislature, and the Board of Regents. I will work with all others to find those solutions to protect our scholarship program.

We can’t play political football with our children’s future or the state’s future. Here are some of the things we can examine now: Require a Nevada address for each applicant. Require a Social Security Number for each applicant. Make sure we are pointing our applicants to the best choice—university, state college, community college. Review the required grade point requirement to be certain it is effective. Consider a means test in times of limited funds so the child of a struggling middle-class family can get help while the child of a wealthy family relies on the family. Encourage the University System to find additional ways to keep tuition rates down. Institute a low-cost or interest free loan system if tuition scholarships aren’t enough. Strengthen and promote the Nevada Prepaid Tuition Plan.