BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 1291
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          SENATE THIRD READING
          SB 1291 (Nielsen)
          As Introduced  February 21, 2014
          Majority vote 

           SENATE VOTE  :36-0  
           
           LOCAL GOVERNMENT    8-0                                         
           
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          |Ayes:|Achadjian, Levine, Alejo, |     |                          |
          |     |Bradford, Gordon,         |     |                          |
          |     |Melendez, Mullin, Rendon  |     |                          |
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           SUMMARY  :  Allows the Halcumb Cemetery District to inter  
          nonresidents under specified conditions.  Specifically,  this  
          bill  :  

          1)Extends to the Halcumb Cemetery District (District) in Shasta  
            County, the authority already granted to the Cottonwood  
            Cemetery District (Shasta County), the Anderson Cemetery  
            District (Shasta County), the Silveyville Cemetery District  
            (Solano County) and the Kern River Valley Cemetery District  
            (Kern 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.

           EXISTING LAW  :








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

             a)   Persons who are residents of the cemetery district;

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

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

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

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

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

          2)Allows the Cottonwood, Anderson, Silveyville, and Kern River  
            Valley cemetery districts 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 cemetery 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 cemetery district requires the payment of a  
               nonresident fee set pursuant to existing law.  

          3)Authorizes the Oroville Cemetery District to use its cemetery  
            on Feather River Boulevard, for up to a total of 100  








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            interments, for interment in the ground of any non-residents,  
            the Elsinore Valley Cemetery District to use a portion of its  
            cemetery for up to a total of 536 interments for nonresidents,  
            and the Davis Cemetery District to use its cemetery for up to  
            a total of 500 interments, for interment in the ground of any  
            nonresident, if all of the following apply:

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

             b)   The cemetery 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 cemetery district requires the payment of a  
               nonresident fee prescribed by law.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  None

           COMMENTS  :   

          1)Public cemetery districts.  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.  

          2)Halcumb Cemetery District.  According to the Shasta Local  
            Agency Formation Commission's Municipal Services Review  
            (September 2013), there are eight public cemetery districts in  
            Shasta County.  The District was formed in 1935 and serves  
            residents in a 214,761 acre service area in Central Shasta  
            County, including the Round Mountain, Montgomery Creek, and  
            Big Bend communities.  The District provides perpetual care  








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            and maintenance to two sites:  Cove Cemetery which is a  
            one-acre site that has been closed to new burials for decades,  
            and the Halcumb Cemetery which has 13 developed acres out of 
          26 total acres.  The District performs 15 to 20 interments per  
            year, and has no estimate of when the Halcumb Cemetery site  
            will reach capacity.  In the 2012-13 fiscal year the  
            District's budget was $60,730 and their total available  
            endowment fund was $70,625.  

            In 2005, the state dedicated the Northern California Veterans  
            Cemetery, which is located less than 50 miles southwest of the  
            Halcumb Cemetery.  Supporters argue that after the veterans'  
            cemetery opened nearby, annual interments in the District  
            decreased, creating significant fiscal challenges.  

          3)Purpose of this bill.  This bill extends, to the District, the  
            authority currently granted to the Anderson, Cottonwood,  
            Silveyville, and Kern River Valley 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 four cemetery districts.  This  
            bill is sponsored by the District.  

          4)Author's statement.  According to the author, "In 1909, the  
            Legislature authorized public cemetery districts in order to  
            assume responsibility of the operations of formerly  
            privately-owned (social, religious, pioneer, fraternal, etc.)  
            cemeteries, to ensure the continued maintenance and operation  
            of existing cemeteries, and to provide affordable burial  
            options for California's residents.  

            "Because only residents and property owners within a district,  
            and family members of those people, may be buried within that  
            district's cemetery, 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 U.S. 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 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."  








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           5)Previous legislation.  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 the  
            Public Cemetery District Law was revised, the Legislature  
            retained Oroville's special provision (SB 341 (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).  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).  

            SB 1131 (La Malfa), Chapter 65, Statutes of 2012, allows  
            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 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.  Most recently, SB 159 (Fuller), Chapter 55, Statutes of  
            2013, added the Kern River Valley Cemetery District to the  
            list of cemetery districts that may inter nonresidents under  
            specified conditions.  

            AB 1593 (Dahle) of the current Legislative Session, was  
            introduced to add the Auburn Public Cemetery District to the  
            list of cemetery districts that currently have the  
            authorization to inter nonresidents.  The Assembly Local  
            Government Committee's hearing of AB 1593 was canceled at the  
            request of the author.  

          6)Policy consideration.  The Legislature may wish to consider  
            the policy of exempting cemetery districts one at a time, or  
            exempting only those located near veterans' cemeteries.   
            Because a larger policy issue exists for cemetery districts  








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            that are struggling financially, the Legislature may wish to  
            consider if a more comprehensive solution involving Local  
            Agency Formation Commissions at the local level should be  
            explored.  

          7)Arguments in support.  Supporters argue that this bill will  
            help the District to generate income which will help them to  
            stay financially sound.  

          8)Arguments in opposition.  Opposition argues that prior bills  
            which have authorized other public cemetery districts to make  
            out-of-district, non-qualifying interments have generated  
            minimal additional revenue and that a broader solution for  
            these financially troubled districts is necessary.  

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


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