Banks across Iowa will have to pay around nine-million dollars to a special state fund to make up for missing money from the Hartford-Carlisle Bank in central Iowa. The nine-million dollars was uninsured money desposited by government entities. State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald says all banks and savings and loans pay a percentage of the lost money based on the percentage of public funds they have on deposit. Fitzgerald says the so-called “sinking fund” was devised as an insurance policy to cover the losses of public funds. He says the last payout was in 1984, so banks haven’t had to pay anything for 16 years.Fitzgerald says the number of banks has decreased by about one third since the last payout, so that will also increase the amounts paid. He says banks will likely pass the cost on to customers. Federal agents are looking into the the missing money and the bank has been taken over by the F-D-I-C. Fitzgerald says if enough funds are recovered in this case, the banks could get some of the sinking fund money back.
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