POLAND — Questions over a decades-old bank fund created to support Poland’s small town library led to a face-to-phone meeting Monday between the library’s trustees, town selectmen, and money managers from Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, who attended via speakerphone.

Leaders in Poland want to know how the trust fund has grown and how much money the bank has collected in fees. Since the 1960s, the trust has grown from $300,000 to more than a $1 million. Trustees and selectmen worry that too few of the trust’s profits have made it back to the library.

On Monday, locals asked their questions through Auburn attorney Jill Checkoway. They heard few answers. Mostly, they were given promises for documentation.

“I think they’re making an effort,” Town Manager Dana Lee said. “I think they’re trying to get us the info to answer our question.”

Local leaders have been frustrated over their inability to get answers in the past.

One of the big questions focuses on when the private trust fund was miscategorized as a public fund. As a private trust, the bank would face a mandatory, minimum 5 percent annual payout, something that would not be required of a public, nonprofit fund.

It’s uncertain how much money may have stayed in the fund because of the mistake that should have been paid out.

Further complicating the matter is the trust’s history.

The original Jane J. Ricker Trust was signed with a bank that no longer
exists, the Manufacturers National Bank of Lewiston. As small banks
have been purchased by larger and larger institutions, the trust went
through several hands, including Fleet Bank, before ending up with the
massive Bank of America from Charlotte, N.C.

It’s uncertain which bank miscategorized the fund. It was finally corrected within the last year, Lee said.

Meanwhile, the library needs improvements to its building. Trustees may ask for a one-time change in the trust that would allow for money to be paid from the trust to make needed changes, Checkoway said. Such a change would need a court order and the consent of Bank of America/Merrill Lynch.

Trustees and selectmen agreed to meet again in mid-to-late January to discuss further action.

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