Oxford $30M Baptist trust fund now worth over $40M

Published 11:21 am Thursday, July 3, 2025

The Oxford Baptist trust fund is now worth $40M and will give the city about $1M for this upcoming fiscal year to use toward a variety of projects and equipment purchases.

The trust fund’s fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31.

Ed Maxwell with Watkins, Ward and Stafford accounting firm, presented the city with its annual Municipal Reserve and Trust Fund Audit during their regular board meeting on Tuesday.

Both the city and Lafayette County received $30M in 2012 from the sale of the old Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi building. The city put all $30M into a trust fund. The county chose to pay off its debt at $10M and put the remaining $20M into a trust fund.

As of March 31, the city of Oxford’s total trust holdings are $40,056,357, up from $39,174,741 in March 2024.

The fund earned 1,705,100 in the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

The fund is about $10M above the original investment.

The city can choose each year to take 3 percent of funds to use in its general account.

For the 2025/2026 city fiscal year, which runs Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, city leaders can take out $1,127,616 to pay fees associated with managing the fund and for various projects and equipment purchases that will be included in the upcoming budget.

The city is currently working on next year’s budget, which will be approved in September.

Since its inception, the city has received almost $11 million in payouts from the interest of the fund.