Trustees review cemetery perpetual-care disbursements, plan written procedure

Trustees of the Trust Funds reviewed past perpetual-care disbursements for the town cemetery and agreed to create written guidance to document how those payments have been made and how future calculations should be performed.

Melissa Madden, the trustee who recorded the minutes, reported MS9 and MS10 were submitted to the New Hampshire Trustees of Trust Funds on May 6, 2026 and that she is awaiting a response. She read out the cemetery perpetual-care disbursements recorded in the check register: 2016 — $4,391.23 (paid in 2017); 2017 — $5,733.63; 2021 — $10,500.00; 2022 — $10,500.00; 2023 — $10,500.00; 2024 — $10,500.00; and 2025 — $10,500.00 (paid in 2026).

The trustees also discussed a pending legal question: whether a previously approved warrant article can be combined with the current General Cemetery Maintenance Fund. The trustees said they are waiting for the lawyer’s advice and expect more information by their June meeting.

The trustees agreed there is no existing documentation that explains how perpetual-care disbursements were calculated and distributed. Trustee Dennis Hebert said he will research past practice and prepare a draft procedure and a fund instrument detailing how perpetual-care funding calculations should be made for review at the next meeting. Trustee Carla Penfield suggested the trustees adopt the fund instrument to standardize future calculations.

Donna Hetzel attended as a guest and was noted as possibly interested in serving as an alternate trustee.

The trustees did not take a formal vote on policy changes at the meeting; the group planned to revisit the draft procedure after receiving legal guidance and Mr. Hebert’s research.