Trustees of Public Funds
 Town Office Basement           
  January 22, 2019   -   7:00 PM
 
Present:   Henry Hotchkiss, Kelly Ziegler, Sandy Begin
  
The committee reviewed the Trustees of Public Funds 2018 Financial Statement that will be in the Pittsfield Town Report and a 2018 Trustees of Public Funds year end update letter that was given to the   Pittsfield Select Board.
 
It was noted that the 2018 Jean Colver Sofield Scholarship amount of $785.08 will be the largest to date awarded.
 
Henry informed the committee that $324.99 in the Jean Colver Sofield Scholarship checking account can be invested, provided the committee does not need the funds to purchase a new plaque. A plaque with all of the scholarship recipient’s names is located in the Pittsfield Library.
 
It was noted that the Town of Pittsfield Cemetery Fund income has been increasing as a result of investing the perpetual care donations. 
 
Next meeting TBD.
         
Meeting adjourned at 7:20 PM.

Recorded by:  Henry Hotchkiss

​Trustees of Public Funds
Town Office Basement
May 30, 2017   -   6:30 PM


Present:   Henry Hotchkiss, Kelly Ziegler, Sandy Begin 

The election of the Trustees of Public Funds Chairperson is Henry Hotchkiss.

The election of the Trustees of Public Funds Secretary is Henry Hotchkiss.
 
The committee reviewed the subject on diversification of assets and investing perpetual care donations.

Henry showed the committee work sheets he created with information about the “Trustees of Public Funds” Mutual Fund Accounts and other investment options that the committee might be interested in.

The committee agreed that it was best to monitor the future results of the two Putnam Mutual funds to other like funds to compare the funds’ performance.  

Henry showed the committee articles from investment news organizations about ETF and Index Funds.

Kelly made a motion to sell $5,000.00 worth of shares from the George Putnam Balanced Mutual Fund and take $7,000.00 from the People’s United Checking Account (Perpetual Care Deposits) and invest $12,000.00 in the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. 

The result would give the Cemetery Funds under the care of the Trustees of Public Funds more exposure to the entire U.S. stock market. (large, midsize and small companies – for a 0.05% annual fee, $10,000.00 initial investment.) 

Sandy seconded the motion.
 
Next meeting TBD.
         
Meeting adjourned at 7:25 PM.


Recorded by:     __________________________________
        Henry Hotchkiss



Approved by:    __________________________________        Date:    ______________
        Henry Hotchkiss, Chair


        __________________________________
        Kelly Ziegler


        _________________________________
        Sandy Begin

​Trustees of Public Funds
Town Office Basement            
March 30, 2017   -   11 AM

Present:   Henry Hotchkiss, Kelly Ziegler

The reorganization of the committee has been postponed until all the committee members are present.
 
Henry showed Kelly two work sheets that he created with information about the “Trustees of Public Funds” Mutual Fund Accounts and Bank Accounts.

A discussion about the evaluation of the two Putnam Funds performance and the need for more diversification took place.  

Henry reviewed the March 07, 2017 Town Meeting Day Article that was passed by the voters.
Article# 11 – “Will the voters of Pittsfield authorize the monies collected from perpetual care donations be invested by the Trustees of Public Funds, of which only the interest and/or dividends can be used, for the care and improvement of the cemetery.”

Henry mentioned that most of the money in the People’s United Bank checking account was perpetual care donations and needed to be invested.  The dollar amount in this checking account is around $7,000.00.

Kelly and Henry agreed that research on Mutual Funds investment options needed to be done before the next meeting. 

Next meeting TBD.
         
Meeting adjourned at 11:30 AM.

Recorded by:

Henry Hotchkiss

Minutes of the Trustees of Public Funds Meeting
Town Office Basement           
July 11, 2016   -   7 PM

Present:   Henry Hotchkiss, Peter Borden, Kelly Ziegler

The election of the Trustees of Public Funds Chairperson is Henry Hotchkiss.
The election of the Trustees of Public Funds Secretary is Henry Hotchkiss.

A discussion took place about the diversification of assets for the Cemetery and Jean Colver Sofield Scholarship Funds.  All committee members agreed that this needed further review.

The committee reviewed a draft copy of the Town of Pittsfield, Cemetery Perpetual Care Donations Policy.  We all agreed that the Select Board should formalize this policy.

As a result of the Draft Cemetery Perpetual Care Donations Policy, Henry said he would like the idea of only writing one check annually instead of the current quarterly payment.
Peter mentioned that for the cemetery budgeting process, a year end payment would give the town time before the March Town Meeting to determine the amount of money the Trustees of Public Funds could contribute to the Cemetery’s Budget.  
       
The next meeting TBD.

Meeting adjourned at 7:35 PM.

Recorded by:                                                           Approved March 30, 2017, by:
Henry Hotchkiss                                                     Henry Hotchkiss, Kelly Ziegler