The trustees - Paul Cassiday, Clint Churchill, David Heenan and C. Dudley Pratt - each received a pay raise of $24,000, or about 2.9 percent, from the $816,000 the estate paid them in 1994.
The Campbell Estate trustees, however, said they waived a significant amount in commissions on top of what they earned last year.
In comparison, commissions paid to full-term Bishop Estate trustees for its fiscal year 1995 were $938,047, a 2.5 percent increase from the year-earlier $915,238.
Founded in 1900, Campbell Estate is a private, for-profit trust set up for the heirs of Scottish seaman James Campbell. By contrast, Bishop Estate is a nonprofit charitable trust established to educate children of Hawaiian ancestry.
Campbell Estate's commissions were disclosed in an annual report filed in state Circuit Court by the trust's auditor, KPMG Peat Marwick L.L.P.
According to the report, Campbell Estate earned a net income of $41.9 million from its holdings last year, a 1.4 percent increase from 1994's net of $41.4 million.
The estate, one of the state's largest private landowners, posted total income, minus expenses, of $148.4 million in 1995. That was down slightly from 1994's total income of $148.8 million.
More than half of the estate's net income came from its extensive mainland real estate holdings, valued at about $743.9 million last year, the estate has said. The estate's overall holdings have been valued at about $2.2 billion.
Trustees generally declined comment on their commissions but some said the commissions are set by law and that they often waive a significant amount in commissions to which they are entitled. They also noted that all of the trustees play a very active role in supporting isle charities and other local community organizations.
Fred Trotter, a Campbell heir and a former estate trustee, said that the estate is getting its money's worth from its trustees. During the past few years, the estate has grown extensively, much to the trustees' credit, he said.
Tom Foley, the local attorney who served as the estate's court-appointed guardian between 1992 and 1993, said the trustees by law are entitled to earn up to 5 percent of the estate's income.
Foley also noted that trustees likely will see a huge payout when the trust dissolves in 2007. Foley said that state law would allow trustees serving in the year 2007 to earn as much as $10 million in termination fees.
Under James Campbell's will, the estate is scheduled to terminate on Jan. 20, 2007, but estate officials have been looking to extend the trust in some form beyond the termination date.
A. James Wriston, attorney for Campbell Estate, called the possibility of a large payout "pure speculation." He noted that between now and 2007, lawmakers could place a stricter cap on termination commissions for estates.
Wriston also said that such fees are based on the value of the estate at the time of termination. He said it's difficult to foresee what the estate will be worth a decade from now.
"Nobody can predict that," said Dudley Pratt, current trustee and former chief executive officer of Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. "Look at what the real estate market has done in Hawaii." Pratt said he will retire from his trustee post in two years when he turns 70.