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Trustee of Public Funds and Bullock Education Fund Committee (DRAFT) Meeting Minutes 7.8.25

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Trustee of Public Funds and Bullock Education Fund Committee

Minutes of Joint Meeting on Tuesday 7/8/25 at 5:00pm

Location: Guilford Town Office

Present:

Trustees of Public Funds – Carrie Nelson, Elly Majonen, Todd (Akiva) Mandell (via Zoom)

Bullock Scholarship Committee – Carol Schnabel, Kathryn Mason, Michael Iocona (arrived about 5:25)

Spencer Adams, CFP, from Edward Jones (via zoom 5:40pm)

The purpose of this meeting is to discuss a possible increase regarding the annual Bullock scholarship funds available to defray students’ expenses at any 2-year, 4-year, post graduate or technical college program.

Agenda / Minutes

  • Minutes of the last informational meeting on 5/8/25 were reviewed and approved. The minutes of the 5/8 meeting and this 7/8 meeting will be posted.
  • Brief discussion about following Open Meeting Law statutes as a non-Advisory Body. This is why we have warned this meeting, are recording it, and will post minutes.
  • Review current financial status of the Guilford’s Bullock fund  –
    • Elly provided information from the 5/8 meeting regarding growth of the fund and shared the most current balance from the 6/27/25 statement. Ending value stands at $173,139.14, of which $15,560.79 sits in a Money market (cash account) fund and is available for scholarships.  
    • Spencer Adams of Edward Jones joined the meeting late and provided more information about the investments and growth over the years.
  • Discussion of a possible increase to annual available scholarships while maintaining the base amount for investment.
    – Akiva asked the Scholarship Committee about the # of applicants, $ amount  awarded, why not more? The fund has grown but we haven’t seen an increase in the number or size of scholarships. Could we increase the number of awards and/or the amount of the award? Kathryn replied that the committee came to the Town Clerk’s office and were told how much we could give. Then we gave it out based on the number and quality of applicants. Historically, the amount has been $3000/yr.  Carol replied that she always checked in with Penny (previous Town Clerk/Treasurer/Trustee of Public Funds). Neither Carol or Kathryn knew they could ask for a different amount. The costs of college has increased. They would be glad to give more. It’s a struggle to send kids to college. We’d like to be able to do anything we can to help. Both Akiva and Carrie were in favor of both reinvesting some of the money in the cash account and increasing the amount of the scholarship $$ available. The cash account is held in a money market which gains interest and collects dividends from the other investment accounts. Historically, the cash fund account acted as a buffer between years of growth and years when investments did not do so well. Should we consider increasing the award for the two current recipients whose payments have not yet been processed? Akiva – “What are we building it for if not to give it out?” Basically 3 questions for Spencer:
    -What can we set aside for the next 5 years to keep us above the $100K base and keep us solid?
    -What can we safely reinvest from the cash account?
    -What can we have available for scholarships in order to maintain growth?
    -Spencer joined the meeting at 5:40pm and Akiva recapped the questions. In Spencer’s suggestion, $5000 a year to scholarships from the cash account would maintain the base amount of $100K, given the 6.3% annualized return and the accounts are conservatively invested. In 2024, we made $15k total. Year to date we’ve made about $14K.  In 2024, the dividends to the cash account were about $8000. This year to date, we are at $2312 with dividend income. $5,000/year feels safe/conservative. Suggestion to keep base scholarship at $5,000/year and perhaps, depending on the market, increase in any given year.
    -Mike asked if we should have a threshold (with the other investments) – a number above $100k at which we pause to review and recuperate if necessary?  Perhaps $150K?
    -Mike – what if we base the scholarship on the dividends we earned the year before? Discussion followed re: this idea.
    -The following motion was made:
      • Henceforth, beginning in 2025, the Bullock Scholarship Committee shall give $5,000/year and (the Trustees of Public Funds) will adjust award annually based on the status of the market growth of the fund.This motion seconded and approved- unanimous – by Trustees of Public Funds.
    -After further discussion the following amendment was added:
    -Henceforth, beginning in 2025, the Bullock Scholarship Committee shall give $5,000/year and the Trustees of Public Funds will adjust award annually based on the status of the market growth of the fund (additional funds to be up to 50% of the previous year’s market growth).
    -This amendment was seconded and approved – unanimous – by Trustees of Public Funds.
    -The scholarships for the current two recipients have not yet been processed. Based on the growth of the account for 2024, Akiva moved that the Trustees of Public Funds vote to increase the 2025 scholarship amount to $6,000 total, so each would receive $3000. This was seconded and approved – unanimous – by Trustees of Public Funds.
    -The Trustees decided to meet with Spencer of Edward Jones each April to review the investments and consider the performance of the accounts in order to set the scholarship amount available for the year (i.e., $5000 base amount plus $$ based upon previous year’s growth). The trustees are mindful about the purpose of the money, the rising costs of college tuition/expenses, and maintaining the base amount of the Bullock investments.
  • Motion to adjourn about 6:15pm. Approved.

Respectfully submitted,

Elly Majonen

Trustee of Public Funds, Town of Guilford

Posted: 7.10.2025

Meeting Video: https://youtu.be/4o8bc_8PEdc