BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1969
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:  April 7, 2010

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
                                Cameron Smyth, Chair
                   AB 1969 (Jeffries) - As Amended:  March 25, 2010
           
          SUBJECT  :  Elsinore Valley Cemetery.

           SUMMARY  :  Allows the Elsinore Valley Cemetery District  
          (District) to inter, in a specified section of the cemetery,  
          nonresidents who meet a limited set of criteria.  Specifically,  
           this bill  :

          1)Authorizes the District to use a portion of its cemetery  
            formerly known as Home of Peace for up to a total of 536  
            interments for non-District residents who meet specified  
            criteria.

          2)Requires that before approving such interments the following  
            must occur:

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

             b)   The District has an endowment care fund that requires at  
               least a minimum payment as prescribed by law; and,

             c)   The District requires the payment of a non-resident fee  
               as prescribed by law.

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)States that a cemetery district (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;









                                                                  AB 1969
                                                                  Page  2

             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)Authorizes the Oroville Cemetery District to use its cemetery  
            on Feather River Boulevard, north of Oro Dam Boulevard for up  
            to a total of 100 interments, for interment in the ground of  
            any person who is not a resident of the Oroville Cemetery  
            District, if all of the following apply:

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

             a)   The Oroville Cemetery District has an endowment care  
               fund that requires at least the minimum payment prescribed  
               by law; and,


             b)   The Oroville Cemetery District requires the payment of a  
               nonresident fee prescribed by law.


           FISCAL EFFECT  :  None


           COMMENTS  :

          1)The District reports that in 1995 they purchased a Jewish  
            Cemetery that was adjacent to the District's current  
            properties. The District states that the Jewish Cemetery  
            property became available to them because there had been a  
            decline in population of the local Jewish community.  The  
            District maintains this parcel as an area specifically for  
            those residents who are members of the Jewish community.  The  
            District has been requested by a Rabbi and others to utilize  
            this area for non-resident burials.  The non-resident  
            restrictions within the Health and Safety Code currently  
            prohibit non-residents of the District from being interned  
            unless specific authorization has been granted in statute.   
            The Legislature has previously authorized the Oroville  








                                                                  AB 1969
                                                                  Page  3

            Cemetery District to inter non-residents in a specified  
            cemetery in the Oroville Cemetery District.

          2)The District currently has 20 acres of developed property that  
            contains 7,800 burials with an estimated 5,000 plots still  
            available.  Additionally, the District has approximately six  
            undeveloped acres.  Within the Jewish section of the cemetery  
            there are 536 plots still available which, if utilized, will  
            provide a service to neighboring Jewish communities and  
            additional revenue for the District.
           
          3)Support Arguments  :  Expanding on the scope of who the District  
            can inter will allow the District to provide a service to meet  
            the unique needs of their community and surrounding areas.

           4)Opposition Arguments  : None at this time.  

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

           Support 
           
          Elsinore Valley Cemetery District [SPONSOR]
          Evans Brown Mortuary
          Jewish Men's Club of the Valleys
          Temple Beth Sholom
          Temple Lake Shalom
          Individual letters (3)

           Opposition
           
          None on file
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916)  
          319-3958