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Town Officials Frustrated By Poor Earnings From Hawley Funds

BY STEVE BIGHAM

By now, most Newtown residents have heard the story of Mary Hawley, whose

generosity helped build an impressive foundation for the town to stand on.

The philanthropist gave the town the Cyrenius Booth Library, Edmond Town Hall

and Hawley School. She also left behind three separate trust funds for the

buildings.

Each of the trusts is earning only about three percent interest on its

principal, hardly enough to maintain the buildings, especially the library and

town hall.

Back in 1930, Miss Hawley created a $250,000 trust fund to be used by the

board of managers for the upkeep of Edmond Town Hall. The trust has grown to

about $1.2 million, yet the managers only receive about $35,000 annually from

that in interest. A three percent yield is hardly the best investment of the

money, town officials say, but it is out of the town's hands.

"We have no control over it," said Gordon Williams, chairman of the Library

Board of Trustees. His organization is also frustrated about the lack of money

the trust has managed to bring in.

Back in 1930, Miss Hawley, on the advice of her financial adviser, Arthur

Nettleton, set up the trust with the Hartford National Bank, leaving strict

orders that the bank was not to change the way the money was invested. There

were no mutual funds in those days and the money was invested very

conservatively at the sole discretion of the bank.

Since then, the banks have merged and changed names several times, and the

trust is now in the hands of Fleet Bank. Despite efforts by the town to change

the trust's portfolio, the bank has refused to budge, according to William

Honan, member of the Edmond Town Hall Board of Managers. The bank also takes

out a sizable fee each year for its services, decreasing the town's annual

cut.

The library trustees expressed their frustration over the lack of control over

the trust at a recent budget meeting of the Board of Selectmen.

"We've asked them to make some changes, but they (bank trustees) haven't

reacted," Mr Williams said.

The library's trust has grown to around $1.2 million, but it expects to

receive just $30,000 from the fund this year. With a library budget of more

than $700,000 this year, the interest from the trust hardly makes a dent.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said $21,000 on $1.1 or $1.2 million seems

pretty low. He doesn't understand why the bank won't work with the town to

make changes in the way the trust is invested.

"Since Fleet Bank handles much of the town's money I just think we could get

the bank trustees to be more flexible with us," said Mr Rosenthal. "The town

has no control. We're at the mercy of the trustees."

Fleet Bank's trust department is located in New Hampshire.