Thank you Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to present a bill to amend the Public Trustees Act, to eliminate the Special Reserve Fund held by the Public Trustee.
A Special Reserve Fund was established in Legislation to cover any shortfalls when the amount of interest owing to individual estates and trusts was greater than the amount of interest earned by the common fund. The Special Reserve Fund has grown substantially over the years, and has a current value of $577,895.40. The method of calculating the interest payable to the estates and trusts has not been tailored to the amount of interest earned by the common fund. The interest rate is set each month. As a result, the special reserve fund is no longer necessary. The full value of the special reserve fund will be transferred to the consolidated revenue fund on October 31st. Any excess interest on the common fund, after the payment of any fees and deficiencies will now be paid directly to the consolidated revenue fund, twice a year. I believe the amendment is a positive change which will assist the Government in its efforts to deal with the current fiscal realities. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.