Trust Funds
Trust funds are legal entities funded for a specific purpose.
Accounting for trust funds requires the separation of principal and income. When a trust fund is created, money is transferred to the Trustees as the initial corpus or principal of the trust fund. Additional capital may be added at a later time.
As the trust fund earns income and grows, interest and dividends earned by the trust fund are booked as "income." Short-term and long-term capital gains are booked as "principal."
Many trust funds restrict annual distributions to income alone. Some trust funds require a portion of the annual income to be reinvested in the trust fund as additional principal to offset inflation. An expendable trust fund allows for the withdrawal of income and principal as the trust fund's specific purpose dictates.
Each trust fund is governed by an investment
policy written specifically to provide an investment roadmap.
There are three documents in Hampton:
Real Estate Trust Fund
Investment Policy
Smaller Trust Funds
Investment Policy
Library Trust Funds Investment Policy
When a trust fund has met its purpose, the principal is disbursed, although many Town trust funds never distribute principal. These are referred to as non-expendable trust funds.
Click on the link below for greater detail about a specific trust fund:
- Campbell Sports Scholarship Fund
- Cemetery Burial Trust Fund
- Cemetery Perpetual Care Trust Fund
- Compensated Leave Trust Fund
- Hampton School District (SAU 90) Special Education Trust Fund
- Lane Memorial Library Trust Funds
- Poor Funds
- Real Estate Trust Fund
- Winnacunnet School District (SAU 21) Special Education Trust Fund
- Winnacunnet High School Building Maintenance Trust Fund