BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1291|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1291
Author: Nielsen (R)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/2/14
AYES: Wolk, Knight, Beall, DeSaulnier, Hernandez, Liu, Vidak
SUBJECT : Public cemetery districts: Halcumb Cemetery
District
SOURCE : Halcumb Cemetery District
DIGEST : This bill allows the Halcumb Cemetery District to
inter in the ground or a columbarium up to 40 people per
calendar year who are neither residents nor property taxpayers
in any cemetery district and who do not otherwise qualify for
interment under the state law governing public cemetery
districts' interment of eligible nonresidents, if specified
conditions are met.
ANALYSIS : Existing 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.
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
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rural communities. County boards of supervisors appoint the
cemetery district's board of trustees, composed of three to five
registered voters from within the districts' boundaries.
Cemetery districts finance their operations with small shares of
local property tax revenues, by selling interment rights, and by
charging for services.
This bill allows the Halcumb Cemetery District to inter in the
ground or a columbarium up to 40 people per calendar year who
are neither residents nor property taxpayers in any cemetery
district and who do not otherwise qualify for interment under
the state law governing public cemetery districts' interment of
eligible nonresidents, if:
The board of trustees determines that the District's cemetery
has adequate space for the foreseeable future;
The District has an endowment care fund that requires a
contribution for every interment of at least a minimum payment
as prescribed by law; and
The District requires the payment of a non-resident fee, as
set by law.
Background
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. 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 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).
In 2011, 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). In 2012, to help the Anderson,
Cottonwood, and Silveyville cemetery districts overcome the
ongoing loss of business to nearby veteran's cemeteries, the
Legislature allowed them an exemption from the state law
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restricting non-resident burials (SB 1131, La Malfa, Chapter 65,
Statutes of 2012). Last year, the Legislature granted the Kern
River Valley cemetery an exemption from the state law
restricting non-resident burials (SB 159, Fuller, Chapter 55,
Statutes of 2013).
The Halcumb Cemetery District serves residents in a 214,761 acre
area in Central Shasta County, including the Round Mountain,
Montgomery Creek, and Big Bend communities. Formed in 1935, the
District provides perpetual care and maintenance to two sites.
Cove Cemetery is a one acre site that has been closed to new
burials for decades. Halcumb Cemetery has 13 developed acres
out of 26 total acres. The District performs 15-20 interments
per year and has no estimate of when the Halcumb Cemetery site
will reach capacity. The District has one employee. Its Fiscal
Year 2012-13 budget was $60,730. In 2005, the state dedicated
the Northern California Veterans Cemetery, which is located less
than 50 miles southwest of the Halcumb Cemetery. During the
most recent complete fiscal year, the Northern California
Veterans Cemetery performed 557 burials. After the veterans'
cemetery opened nearby, annual interments in the Halcumb
Cemetery District decreased, creating significant fiscal
challenges for the District.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 4/2/14)
Halcumb Cemetery District (source)
OPPOSITION : (Verified 4/2/14)
Cemetery and Mortuary Association of California
Public CemeteryAlliance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author:
California's public cemetery districts are independent special
districts, each governed by a board of trustees. They are
divided by geographical boundaries, often varying greatly in
the geographic size of the district, the number of cemeteries
that are within a district, as well as the size of the
population that lives within the district.
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Because only residents and property owners within a district,
and family members of those people, may be buried within that
district's cemetery/ies, some smaller cemetery districts have
a very low rate of burials that occur each year. 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.
The Halcumb Cemetery District is located within 20 miles of a
recently opened state and federal veterans cemetery and each
have lost significant interment opportunities to the new site.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Cemetery and Mortuary
Association of California states:
Cemetery districts, as entities of municipal government are
intended to serve their residents. The law therefore sets
forth specific connections where interments are appropriate.
The expansion of the law to include non-residents, as proposed
by SB 1291, creates an opportunity and incentive for
municipalities to engage in business practices that compete
with the private sector.
A private cemetery industry exists in California, with
businesses located throughout the state presenting cemetery
and funeral-related services. The industry is competitive,
and it is regulated by the state Department of Consumer
Affairs.
As an alternative to significantly revising the sound public
policy in support of cemetery districts interring
nonresidents, counties experiencing financial difficulty due
to the increasing cremation rates and declines in casket
burials are encouraged to address those issues by adjusting
their services to appropriately serve the needs of their
residents.
AB:k 4/3/14 Senate Floor Analyses
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SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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