BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 159
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          SENATE THIRD READING
          SB 159 (Fuller)
          As Introduced  February 1, 2013
          Majority vote 

           SENATE VOTE  :33-0  
           
           LOCAL GOVERNMENT    9-0                                         
           
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          |Ayes:|Achadjian, Levine, Alejo, |     |                          |
          |     |Bradford, Gordon,         |     |                          |
          |     |Melendez, Mullin, Rendon, |     |                          |
          |     |Waldron                   |     |                          |
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           SUMMARY  :  Allows the Kern River Valley Cemetery District to  
          inter nonresidents under specified conditions.  Specifically,  
           this bill  :   

          1)Extends to the Kern River Valley Cemetery District (District)  
            in Kern County, the authority already granted to the  
            Cottonwood Cemetery District (Shasta County), the Anderson  
            Cemetery District (Shasta County), and the Silveyville  
            Cemetery District (Solano County), to use its cemetery for up  
            to a total of 400 interments each, not to exceed 40 interments  
            per calendar year, for the interment in the ground or  
            columbarium of any person who is not a resident or a property  
            taxpayer of the cemetery district, if the following conditions  
            are met:  

             a)   The board of trustees determines that the District's  
               cemetery has adequate space for the foreseeable future;

             b)   The District has an endowment care fund that requires a  
               contribution for every interment of at least the minimum  
               amount set pursuant to existing law; and,

             c)   The District requires the payment of a nonresident fee  
               set pursuant to existing law.  

          2)Finds and declares that a special law is necessary because of  
            the unique circumstances pertaining to the District.









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           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)States that a cemetery district shall limit interments to the  
            following:

             a)   Persons who are residents of the district;

             b)   Persons who are former residents of the district and who  
               acquired interment rights while they were residents of the  
               district;

             c)   Persons who pay property taxes on property located in  
               the district;

             d)   Persons who formerly paid property taxes on property  
               located in the district and who acquired interment rights  
               while they paid those property taxes;

             e)   Eligible nonresidents of the district, as provided; or,

             f)   Persons who are family members of any person described  
               in this section.

          2)Allows the Cottonwood Cemetery District, the Anderson Cemetery  
            District, and the Silveyville Cemetery District to use their  
            cemeteries for up to a total of 400 interments each, not to  
            exceed 40 interments each per calendar year, for interment in  
            the ground or a columbarium of any person who is not a  
            resident or a property taxpayer of any cemetery district, and  
            who does not qualify for that interment pursuant to existing  
            law, if all of the following apply:

             a)   The board of trustees determines that the district's  
               cemetery has adequate space for the foreseeable future;

             b)   The district has an endowment care fund that requires a  
               contribution for every interment of at least the minimum  
               amount set pursuant to existing law; and,

             c)   The district requires the payment of a nonresident fee  
               set pursuant to existing law.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  None









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           COMMENTS  :  This bill extends, to the District, the authority  
          currently granted to the Anderson, Cottonwood, and Silveyville  
          cemetery districts.  This bill allows the District to use its  
          cemetery to inter nonresidents for a total of 400 interments, up  
          to 40 per calendar year, pursuant to the conditions established  
          for the authorization for the other three cemetery districts.   
          This bill is sponsored by the District.  

          The District was established in 1950 to provide cemetery  
          services to residents within its boundaries.  In 2009, the  
          federal government opened the Bakersfield National Cemetery  
          approximately 40 miles from the District's cemetery that will  
          accommodate burials for roughly 200,000 veterans and their  
          families.  

          According to the author, "The struggle to maintain a constant  
          flow of business for many of these smaller cemeteries is greatly  
          impacted by nearby state and federal veterans cemeteries, where  
          any US veteran is allowed to be buried at no cost and the  
          veteran's spouse can also be buried at no, or very minimal  
          cost."  

          California's 253 public cemetery districts are separate local  
          governments that operate cemeteries and provide interment  
          services, mostly in rural areas and suburbs that were formerly  
          rural communities.  County boards of supervisors appoint the  
          cemetery districts' boards of trustees, composed of three to  
          five registered voters from within the districts' boundaries.   
          The districts finance their operations with small shares of  
          local property tax revenues, by selling interment rights and  
          charging for services.  

          State law limits who may be buried in a district cemetery.   
          Generally, cemetery districts can bury only residents, former  
          residents, property taxpayers, former taxpayers, certain  
          eligible nonresidents, and their family members.

          Responding to an Attorney General's opinion, the Legislature  
          allowed the Oroville Cemetery District (Butte County) to inter  
          up to 100 nonresidents in a former Jewish cemetery which the  
          District had acquired (SB 1906 (Johnson), Chapter 1039, Statutes  
          of 1982).  When it revised the Public Cemetery District Law, the  
          Legislature retained Oroville's special provision (SB 341  
          (Senate Local Government Committee), Chapter 57, Statutes of  








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          2003).  The Legislature allowed the Elsinore Valley Cemetery  
          District (Riverside County) to inter up to 536 nonresidents in a  
          former Jewish cemetery, under specified conditions (AB 1969  
          (Jeffries), Chapter 40, Statutes of 2010).  To facilitate a  
          group purchase of cemetery plots by members of the Congregation  
          Bet Haverim Synagogue, the Legislature allowed the Davis  
          Cemetery District to inter up to 500 nonresidents under  
          specified conditions (AB 966 (Yamada), Chapter 111, Statutes of  
          2011).

          Most recently the Legislature allowed the Anderson, Cottonwood,  
          and Silveyville Cemetery Districts to inter nonresidents due to  
          financial hardship caused by the openings of nearby state and  
          federal veterans' cemeteries.  SB 1131 (La Malfa), Chapter 65,  
          Statutes of 2012, allows those three cemetery districts to inter  
          up to 40 nonresidents in each cemetery's district - up to a  
          maximum of 400 - provided that a nonresident fee is paid, the  
          district's board of trustees affirms that there is adequate  
          space for the foreseeable future, and the cemetery has an  
          endowment care fund.  

          Support arguments:  In light of the numerous fiscal challenges  
          facing public cemeteries, revenues from nonresident burials  
          could offer significant financial benefits to districts that are  
          struggling to continue providing cemetery services.  Supporters  
          argue that this bill increases the likelihood that cemeteries  
          with lower burial rates will be able to serve their communities  
          for current and future generations.  

          Opposition arguments:  Opposition argues that there is a sound  
          public policy rationale for existing law and the statutory  
          restrictions because cemetery districts are intended to serve  
          their residents, and this bill creates an opportunity for  
          municipalities to engage in business practices that compete with  
          the private sector.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Misa Yokoi-Shelton / L. GOV. / (916)  
          319-3958 


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