Manteca taxpayers own a piece the debt of corporations such as Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Pepsico and Chevron as well as municipal debt issued by agencies such as the California Department of Water Resources as well as the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.

They are part of a diverse portfolio reflecting $148,690,152 in managed investments the City of Manteca had as of Dec. 31, 2021.

Overall, the city had $242,621,539 in various investments including $49.9 million in a Wells Fargo Bank account.

The snapshot of Manteca’s investment portfolio was shared with the City Council last week.

The quarterly reports have been made to the council since former City Manager Miranda Lutzow informed elected leaders three years that the city’s financial accounting was in disarray to the point it wasn’t clear if upwards of $68 million was being properly accounted by the finance department.

Those issues were related to the general ledger not being kept up to date as well as redundant expense entries as well as revenue placed in the wrong accounts.

While there were never signs of theft or such detected, it was determined money was being borrowed from restricted accounts and used for purposes other than what it was legally collected for that must be paid back with interest.

That amount — placed as high as $20 million — involved growth fees collected for work such as road improvements that were used for water and sewer projects.

The exact amount of what needs to be paid back by ratepayers that will require rate hikes for sewer and water services has yet to be provided in a public forum.

The final amount is expected to be large enough that a water rate study under way may be broken down into two rate hikes adopted at different times spread across multiple years. The city needs to not only pay back interfund loans made on behalf of the water fund but they need to collect funds for needed capital improvement projects involving aging water infrastructure as well as cover the cost of ongoing maintenance and operations.

A sewer rate hike study is also underway.

Neither the water nor the sewer rates have been increased for 13 years.

Most of the funds in the investment portfolio represent money the city has either collected for a specific purpose or has received from the state or federal government for specific purposes. As such it can’t be tapped for day-to-day city operations such as police and fire or to expand staffing in either department or throughout the city.

A chunk of the funds represents reserves including those in general fund accounts. It also reflects property tax receipts that are paid to the city twice a year as well as quarterly sales tax receipts.

Property and sales tax represent the city’s largest source of general fund revenue. While the funds come in two to four times a year roughly 85 percent of the city’s general fund costs involve payroll and benefits that are spread out fairly evenly across 12 months.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com