1986: Central Trust Savings Bank to be sold

April 16, 1986: Jim Tank, president of Central Trust Savings Bank, was recommending the sale of the bank to Banks of Iowa Inc., a statewide banking corporation based in Des Moines. Tank was recommending the sale as the best alternative to financial problems caused by the “seriously depressed economy of the area.” While staff had worked to shore up CTSB’s eroding capital over the last year, significant losses from loans had handicapped the bank’s earning power. As a result, no dividends had been paid, and the bank’s holding company had been unable to service a stock loan. CTSB suffered a $721,000 loss in 1985. The potential sale would end 87 years of local bank ownership in Eldridge, although stockholders would have the final say.