Council adds direction for small charitable trust funds; staff to audit balances

The council adopted an ordinance adding a provision to the city code directing certain charitable trust funds to be used to their maximum intended benefit and brought the Crissy and Brown trusts into the council's existing Stephenson Fund grant policy framework.

Jody Schneider (city clerk) and City Manager Michael D. Scribe described efforts to clarify how interest earnings and minimum balances have been handled historically and proposed a predictable approach: budget distributions a year after audited returns are finalized. "The way the ordinance is written, it'll be based off of audited returns, and we just distribute it accordingly," the city manager said. Staff noted several trust balances and minimums in the packet and proposed confirming figures before making distributions.

Council members pressed staff on whether minimum balances could be changed and on the practical size of ongoing distributions; staff and legal counsel said the trust language and applicable statutes limit council authority and that amounts available annually could be small (examples cited in discussion included roughly $22,000, $29,000 and $24,000 for different trusts). Staff recommended a one-time identification of funds available above minimums and suggested making distributions for eligible uses, then administering future grants on a regular schedule tied to audited earnings.

The council voted to adopt the ordinance. Staff said they will return after further accounting work and that any budget amendments necessary to allocate identified distributions could be brought forward.