Bristol council approves redirecting Wardwell trust income to Rogers Free Library to capture extra state aid

The Town of Bristol voted to redirect income from small legacy trusts now held by a bank to the Rogers Free Library, a change council members said will let the library capture an additional state endowment match. The motion, passed contingent on court approval of trust termination, follows a series of legal notices from Bank of America that it intends to petition a court to dissolve certain small trusts and distribute the remaining assets.

Solicitor Amy explained that the trusts at issue include a public schools retirement (teachers') fund and an Isabelle M. Wardwell trust tied to the Henry Wardwell fund. Bank of America told the town it will seek court approval because the remaining assets are small enough that maintaining a separate trust is no longer financially sensible. Council members noted the town would receive a one-time principal deposit (discussants estimated about $100,000 for the teachers fund and roughly $52,000 for the Wardwell-related fund, for a combined total near $150,000) and that income from those assets would be invested and distributed annually to benefit the children’s programming at Rogers Free Library.

Peter Maloney, chair of the Friends of Rogers Library, described the Friends’ long record of supporting children’s programming — including direct book purchases and a Dolly Parton Imagination Library partnership — and urged the council to coordinate with the Friends on administration. The Friends’ representatives explained they currently manage related funds through professional investment relationships and that the town’s treasurer uses similar investment managers.

Town Treasurer Carl and the town administrator said consolidating the Wardwell funds with the town’s restricted teachers fund and managing them through the existing investment arrangements would streamline administration and make it easier to certify endowment income for state matching. Library Director Dyer told the council that endowment grant aid is calculated on certified endowment distributions and that moving the funds to a town-administered endowment would make funds eligible for the state endowment match.

Council members and staff discussed estimated financial effects: the town’s treasurer said current annual distributions from the affected endowment(s) are roughly $13,000 and that adding the Wardwell funds could raise annual distributable income to about $15,000; at a 25% endowment grant-match rate, the town could see roughly $3,000–$3,750 in additional state aid annually to support children’s books and programming. Councilmember Tim, who sponsored the motion, framed the shift as a way to ensure the town “capitalizes the state match as much as we can.”

After public remarks from Friends representatives and a back-and-forth about reporting and fiduciary administration, the council approved a motion to direct distributions from the named trusts to the library, contingent on any necessary court approvals. The council also adopted a separate resolution urging the General Assembly to restore library state aid to the full 25% level called for under state law.

The town emphasized the vote is not intended to supplant the Friends’ work; rather, members said the change aims to increase predictable annual revenue for the library’s children’s programs by making the distributions certifiable for state matching. The redirect is subject to court approval and bank action; the council will notify stakeholders and provide a public accounting of how the distributions will support the children’s library program once the trust termination is finalized.