Geneva Mayor Steve Valentino says he is cautiously optimistic about 2024 after Geneva City Council’s second regular meeting of the year.
“Barring any pandemic, social unrest, or police reform challenges that this council run into, I’m excited — there’s a lot of difference of opinion, there’s a lot of enthusiasm — they’re eager, want to learn more, and understand the process,” he said. Emphasizing that difference of opinion among city council — Valentino said he knows everyone will bring forward their own ideas for governing. “I think we’re going to be able to create some change — not the status quo that we’ve had for the last four year. So, I’m looking forward to working with this group.”
He sat down as part of a new monthly series on Inside the FLX where we connect with local leaders to give us an update on legislative action in their community. Valentino identified two major items on an otherwise light agenda that he says will be important for the city.
Building City’s Revenue
First, involved approving a contract with Three+One, a fin-tech company for the public sector, which allows the City to invest cash-on-hand to bolster revenues. The service provides precise data, benchmarking tools, and forecasting for the City’s financial officers, allowing them to make the best decisions for taxpayers. “They’re going to come in and do an evaluation of how we can invest city money,” Valentino added. “Revenues are always challenging; and hit sis probably one of the biggest options to be able to work our money to get some interest.”
He said that currently the City’s funds are generating between 0-1%, whereas under the new contract — making between 3-5% is possible. “There’s other municipalities using this with great results — including Ontario County.”
Getting Climate Smart
The second major item from Valentino’s vantage point involved the application for Climate Smart status. “We’ve done this in the past,…
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