Sedgwick County Awarded for Leadership in Public Finance

(Sedgwick County, Kan.) – Sedgwick County has been honored with the esteemed cashVest 90+ Award for 2025 in recognition of its exemplary leadership in public finance liquidity management. This honor is given through a collaboration between the National Association of Counties (NACo) and three+one®, a national financial-technology firm that specializes in evaluating cash-management practices within the public sector. This award highlights the County’s commitment to analyzing data to maximize every taxpayer dollar.

By maintaining a cashVest score of 90 or above for four consecutive quarters, Sedgwick County has demonstrated its commitment to effective cash management, improving financial stability, and ensuring responsible stewardship of public resources.

The County’s achievement sets a high standard in the stewardship of public resources and serves as an inspiration within the sector.

“This award reflects the work Sedgwick County has done to put our taxpayer’s dollars into beneficial resources in communities they live and work in,” said Lindsay Poe Rousseau, Sedgwick County Chief Financial Officer. “We will continue to do everything to maximize and manage those resources to set a high standard of stewardship.  I’m very proud of the work done by Principal Accountant David Floyd, with the support of Accounting Director Hope Hernandez and the leadership of Deputy Chief Financial Officer Brent Shelton.”

The cashVest® award signifies excellence in the implementation and management of all liquidity in the public and higher education marketplace. This award is not based on what the marketplace is paying for cash, but rather how a public entity or higher education institution operates within five distinct qualifying areas described below.

The Five Distinct Qualifying Areas of a cashVest Score are:

• % of Available Funds Providing Value: This section measures the percentage of funds that provide value either through interest or offsetting fees.
• Liquidity Proficiency (highest weighted category):three+one developed a proprietary calculation to measure liquidity proficiency. three+one calculates an organization’s recommended strategic liquidity – how much cash an organization has and how it can use time horizon data to identify what is available for investment and for how long. This measures how much more or less liquid the organization’s cash is relative to what the appropriate liquidity levels should be.
• Warnick Rate Indicator:Measures the rate on all cash earning interest and the rate on the total average cash balances (non-interest and interest-bearing) and then compares those returns to the market benchmarks.
• Cashflow Optimization: Reviews an entity’s banking structure and measures how efficient it is to optimize savings & earning potential.
• Investment Policy:Reviews an organization’s investment policy as compared to state law and peers and identifies if all of the recommended elements exist.

Garrett Macdonald, CEO of three+one, commented on the award: “Collectively generating hundreds of millions in additional revenue in 2025 alone that would otherwise have to be raised in taxes or additional tuition is an amazing accomplishment. As each of these entities continues to navigate an ever-changing economic landscape, they have gone above and beyond to set a national standard in cash management and to certify they are doing everything they can to maximize their liquid cash resources.”

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