[Koha] THT and Koha: a new Trust Deed

[joann.ransom at gmail.com]

Hi everyone,

THT is a charitable trust and a council controlled organisation that was established by Horowhenua District Council (HDC) in 1996 to provide library services in Horowhenua. It was originally called Horowhenua Library Trust (HLT). 

HDC has decided to provide library services directly in Horowhenua and will no longer fund THT. As the settlor of the Trust, HDC has suggested that THT be wound up. 

Winding up THT is not straight forward with regard to Koha. THT ‘owns’ many global assets registered in the names of HLT and of THT which THT does not know about or pay for. Supporters around the globe have purchased and pay renewal fees directly. The challenge is:
• THT needs to distribute its assets according to the Trust Deed,
• There is no other global body that the Koha assets could be transferred to,
• Even if another body existed, it would be very difficult to trace all the assets and transfer their ownership.
There are 3 options for THT going forward
4.1   Dissolution
4.2   Liquidation
4.3   Repurposing
4.4   Establish a new Trust
I have written a paper explaining the situation more clearly here: https://wiki.koha-community.org/wiki/THT_and_Koha
Next Step
Regardless of whether the decision is made to repurpose the existing trust or create a new one, a new Trust Deed will be required in order to care for the Koha assets. Over the next few weeks I will be working in an open fashion and welcome community input to develop a draft Trust Deed for HDC and THT to consider.

Any comments on the wiki would be welcome or you can email me directly.

Mt first step is research to work out exactly what issues the Deed must address and restrictions there are on Trustees in order to satisfy the NZ Charities Commission. I will share that work on the wiki.


Kind regards
Jo.

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