Higher interest rates boost Sitzler Fund distributions

Every year, the Holton City Commission distributes funds from the City of Holton’s Sitzler Fund to assist city residents who may have difficulty in keeping up their utility bill payments during the winter months.

This year, however, due to increases in interest rates, commissioners will be able to distribute almost three times as much in interest from the fund as they did last year to those in need.

Holton City Manager Teresa Riley said that interest generated by the fund, created by the estate of Holton resident Louise Sitzler and administered by City Attorney Dennis White, totaled only $1,440.62 last year due to low interest rates on investment accounts at the time.

But with interest rates “up considerably from the last few years,” as Riley noted, a total of $4,234.95 in funds is available for distribution this year — an amount that Riley said was “probably the largest” she has seen available for distribution from the Sitzler Fund in the three decades she has worked for the city.

Money in the Sitzler Fund, which includes monies deposited into four certificate of deposit (CD) accounts and a money market account at Holton banks, grew slightly from year to year, according to White’s report, which showed the fund’s balance of $144,237.91 at the end of November 2022 increasing to $146,525.15 at the end of this past November.

The fund was created in 1912 following the death of Holton resident Louise Sitzler, who had left the city a sizable donation estimated to be somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000 to be used to help “the poor” after her death. The donation was used to establish the “Louise Sitzler Trust Fund For The Needy,” it was reported.

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