The contract is worth more than $160,000 a year but taxpayers will save at least $83,000 a year because the state expects to earn more interest off the checks, which will be deposited more quickly, and other in-house costs will be cut, according to Mike Culp, Boyce’s chief of staff. Two state employees who currently process checks will be assigned other work, he said.
Banks were invited to bid July 1, their responses were due July 15 and Key Bank got the work July 20.
“This could be the right decision but it’s clouded by this fundraiser and it’s clouded by how quickly this happened,” said Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action, a nonpartisan good government organization.
Political contributions had nothing to do with the contract, Culp said.
“What motivated the treasurer’s office was that it’s a cheaper, more secure, and more technologically-advanced way to process warrants,” he said in an e-mail. Currently, when the state issues a check to pay for something, it gets processed by the banks and sent back to the state as a printed image. Electronic images of checks will replace printed images.
Key Bank lobbyist Erskine Cade, who is co-hosting the fundraiser at the Key Bank Tower in downtown Cleveland, agreed and said he didn’t even know about the new contract.
Key Bank spokesman Bill Murschel added that the deal was competitively bid, seven companies planned the fundraiser for months, and federal regulations prohibit financial institutions from discussing business in conjunction with lobbying activities.
Key Bank’s political action committees have contributed $680,634 to state and local candidates and parties over the last five years, including $3,250 to Boyce’s campaigns, according to state records.
Boyce, a Democrat and a former Columbus city councilman, was appointed state treasurer in January by Gov. Ted Strickland. Boyce is running for election against Republican Josh Mandel, a state representative and Iraqi war veteran from Lyndhurst.
Contact this reporter at (614)224-1624 or lbischoff@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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