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During a Commissioners of Oxford meeting Tuesday night, the town’s Clerk-Treasurer Vickie Sharp said moving the town’s insured cash sweep account, or ICS account, from BayVanguard Bank to Shore United Bank would give the town a higher interest rate.

Specifically, Shore United is offering a 4.83% rate compared to BayVanguard’s 3.72% rate. Sharp said Shore United is also offering to give the town a remote deposit option for free so the town can deposit checks from the town office, rather than having to go to the bank in person.

Sharp said this all started when BayVanguard notified the town that its ICS account’s interest rate had dropped half a percent. She said right now the town is earning about $3,000 per month in interest on its ICS account at BayVanguard.

“So moving forward, you stop and think, even a half a point of interest on $3 million is going to be an excessive amount each month,� she said. “And you know, if you can earn an extra $35,000 (or) $50,000 a year just in interest, that’s going to really help the town.�

Oxford Commissioner Katrina Greer called the recommendation “excellent.� She said the $3 million sitting in the BayVanguard ICS account is needed to pay for projects before reimbursements through grant funding kick in.

“So we need the interest income,� Greer said. “We need the cash on hand as well. So it’s a big deal.�

During the discussion, the commissioners heard from Oxford Business Association President Liza Ledford. She told them when the association did a survey years ago on BayVanguard — which has a branch in Oxford — it found that BayVanguard’s ATM in town was important because visitors who come to the marinas are able to take cash out and spend it at local businesses. The ATM was established as part of the banking agreement between Oxford and BayVanguard.

“So if there’s any way that Shore United could consider an ATM machine, I think that would be the most important thing,� Ledford said, adding that she would put out another survey on the matter to members of the business association.

Commissioner Tom Costigan asked if the town office had reached out to BayVanguard to see if they could do anything to make staying with them worthwhile. Sharp said she had not, but would reach out.

“I just find it too, that it was very impersonal that they notified us of this decrease in the interest rate by a letter and an email,� Sharp said about BayVanguard. “And (they) never yet reached out to me ... personally to speak about the reduction.�

The commissioners agreed to wait for further information from BayVanguard Bank as well as the Oxford business community before making a decision.

This is not the first time Oxford has considered leaving BayVanguard. In September 2023, the town temporarily moved $2 million from the bank to the Maryland Local Government Investment Pool and considered whether it would make sense to put that money elsewhere. The decision raised concerns of what might happen to BayVanguard’s Oxford branch if the town pulled that money.

At the meeting, Sharp said she understood moving the account could result in BayVanguard closing its Oxford branch. She asked for citizen input.

“We want to make sure the citizens are ok with that,� she said. “If not, then we may have to rethink what we want to do.�