§ 5384. Payment to treasurer; record; investment

(a) Unless otherwise directed by the donor, all monies received by a town for cemetery purposes shall be paid to the town treasurer, who shall give a receipt therefor, which shall be recorded in the office of the town clerk in a book kept for that purpose. In such book shall also be stated the amount received from each donor, the time when, and the specific purpose to which the use thereof is appropriated.

(b)(1) All monies so received by the town may be invested and reinvested by the treasurer, with the approval of the selectboard, by deposit in:

(A) banks chartered by the State;

(B) national banks;

(C) bonds of the United States or of municipalities whose bonds are legal investment for banks chartered by the State;

(D) bonds or notes legally issued in anticipation of taxes by a town, village, or city in this State, or first mortgages on real estate in Vermont;

(E) the shares of an investment company or an investment trust, such as a mutual fund, closed-end fund, or unit investment trust, that is registered under the federal Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, if such fund has been in operation for at least five years and has net assets of at least $100,000,000.00; or

(F) shares of a savings and loan association of this State, or share accounts of a federal savings and loan association with its principal office in this State, when and to the extent to which the withdrawal or repurchase value of such shares or accounts are insured by the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation.

(2)(A) However, in a town that elects trustees of public funds, cemetery funds shall be invested by the trustees in any of the securities enumerated in this section, and the income thereof paid to the proper officers as the same falls due.

(B) Investment income shall be expended for the purpose and in the manner designated by the donor. The provisions of this section as to future investments shall not require the liquidation or disposition of securities legally acquired and held.

(3) The treasurer, selectboard, or trustees of public funds may delegate management and investment of town cemetery funds to the extent that it is prudent under the terms of the trust or endowment, and in accordance with section 3415 (delegation of management and investment functions) of the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act, 14 V.S.A. chapter 120. Notwithstanding the limitations on investments set forth in this subsection, an agent exercising a delegated management or investment function, if investing, shall invest cemetery funds in a publicly traded security that is:

(A) registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 78l and listed on a national securities exchange;

(B) issued by an investment company registered pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 80a-8;

(C) a corporate bond registered as an offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 78l and issued by an entity whose stock is a publicly traded security;

(D) a municipal security;

(E) a deposit in federally insured financial institutions as defined in 8 V.S.A. § 11101(32); or

(F) a security issued, insured, or guaranteed by the United States.

(4) If the municipality has adopted an investment policy, the treasurer, selectboard, or trustees of public funds shall invest in accordance with the provisions of the municipal policy that do not conflict with this section. (Amended 2017, No. 26, § 1; 2017, No. 123 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. May 3, 2018.)