Section 130: Establishment of fund; filing and recording of trust instrument; trustee; dissolution of fund
Section 130. A municipal electric department is hereby authorized, upon a vote of its municipal light board, to participate in a fund and obligate itself, solely from its revenues and as an expense of such department, to pay actuarially-sound premiums or such other reasonable premiums as may be mutually agreed upon.
A group of two or more participants shall have the power to establish a fund under the provisions of sections one hundred and twenty-nine to one hundred and thirty-two, inclusive. Said fund shall be deemed established upon the execution of a trust instrument by the initial participants containing such reasonable provisions, not inconsistent with the provisions of said section one hundred and twenty-nine to one hundred and thirty-two, inclusive, as the parties may agree upon, and establishment of a fund balance.
Participants shall file the trust instrument establishing a fund with the commissioner within sixty days of the execution of such instrument. The commissioner shall record such trust instrument in a book to be kept for that purpose, which shall be kept in an accessible location in the office of the commissioner.
The coverage provisions of any insurance contract issued by a fund under its trust instrument shall not become effective to provide coverage until the fund is filed in accordance with the provisions of this section, although the fund may require and accept payment of premiums prior to such filing.
A fund shall appoint a trustee, who shall be either a manager of a municipal electric department or a member of a municipal light board. The trustee shall serve for the term provided in the trust instrument and may be removed as provided therein.
Participants desiring to dissolve a fund may petition the supreme judicial court for voluntary dissolution or may dissolve as otherwise provided for in the trust instrument. The court may authorize such dissolution and may, upon such authorization, distribute the petitioner's assets in a manner consistent with the fund's legal obligations.
The commissioner may petition the supreme judicial court for involuntary dissolution of any fund, if such fund has not filed for two consecutive years an annual statement in accordance with section one hundred and thirty-one, or if the commissioner is satisfied that the fund is inactive and its continued existence is not in the public interest. Upon authorizing such dissolution, the court shall distribute all fund assets in accordance with the fund's legal obligations.