BILL ANALYSIS �
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Date of Hearing: June 13, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Cameron Smyth, Chair
SB 1131 (La Malfa) - As Amended: May 8, 2012
SENATE VOTE : 37-0
SUBJECT : Public cemetery districts: interment.
SUMMARY : Allows the Anderson Cemetery District, Cottonwood
Cemetery District, and Silveyville Cemetery District to inter
nonresidents under specified conditions. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Allows the Cottonwood Cemetery District in Shasta County, the
Anderson Cemetery District in Shasta County, and the
Silveyville Cemetery District in Solano County to use their
cemeteries for up to a total of 400 internments 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.
2)Finds and declares that a special law is necessary because of
the unique circumstances pertaining to these specific cemetery
districts.
EXISTING LAW :
1)States that a cemetery district shall limit interments to the
following:
a) Persons who are residents of the district;
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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)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;
b) The Oroville Cemetery District has an endowment care
fund that requires at least the minimum payment prescribed
by law; and,
c) The Oroville Cemetery District requires the payment of a
nonresident fee prescribed by law.
3)Authorizes Elsinore Valley Cemetery District (EVCD) to use a
portion of its cemetery formerly known as Home of Peace for up
to a total of 536 interments for non-residents of EVCD who
meet specified criteria.
4)Requires that before approving such interments the following
must occur:
a) The board of trustees for EVCD must determine that the
cemetery has adequate space for the foreseeable future;
b) EVCD has an endowment care fund that requires at least a
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minimum payment as prescribed by law; and,
c) EVCD requires the payment of a non-resident fee as
prescribed by law.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)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)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, 1982). When it
revised the Public Cemetery District Law, the Legislature
retained Oroville's special provision (SB 341, Senate Local
Government Committee, 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, 2010). Last year, 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,
2011).
3)The Anderson Cemetery District (Shasta County) and Cottonwood
Cemetery District (Shasta County) were both established in
1943 to provide cemetery services to residents in the cities
of Anderson and Cottonwood and in some unincorporated parts of
Shasta County. In 2005, the state dedicated the Northern
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California Veterans Cemetery, which is located less than 20
miles away from both the Anderson and Cottonwood districts'
cemeteries. During the most recent complete fiscal year, the
Northern California Veterans Cemetery performed 505 burials.
After the veterans' cemetery opened nearby, annual interments
in the Anderson and Cottonwood districts' cemeteries
decreased, creating significant fiscal challenges for both
districts.
The Silveyville Cemetery District (Solano County) was
established in 1927. It owns and operates three cemeteries:
Dixon Cemetery, Binghampton Cemetery, and Tremont Cemetery.
In 2006, the federal government opened the Sacramento Valley
National Cemetery, which is located less than 15 miles from
each of the Silveyville District's three cemeteries. Annual
interments in the Silveyville District's cemeteries decreased
after the veterans' cemetery opened.
4)This bill allows 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.
According to the author, the Anderson, Cottonwood, and
Silveyville cemetery districts have each experienced a
significant struggle due to the steadily rising cremation rate
and the decline of casket burials. With the openings of
nearby state and federal veterans' cemeteries, the districts'
interment rates have dropped drastically. This bill is
sponsored by the Cottonwood Cemetery District.
5)The Cemetery and Mortuary Association of California and the
California Funeral Directors Association are opposed to this
bill because they believe that it "encourages municipalities
to compete with private companies for business in a manner
that is both unnecessary and unfair."
6)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
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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.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Cottonwood Cemetery District �SPONSOR]
Allen and Dahl Funeral Chapel
Anderson Cemetery District
Burney Cemetery District
Castroville Public Cemetery District
Corning Cemetery District
Cottonwood Chamber of Commerce
Fair Oaks Cemetery District
Galt-Arno Cemetery District
Gridley-Biggs Cemetery District
Hills Ferry Cemetery District
Los Banos Cemetery District
Madera Cemetery District
Orland Cemetery District
Oroville Cemetery District
Selma Cemetery District
Shasta County Board of Supervisors
Vacaville-Elmira Cemetery District
Opposition
California Funeral Directors Association
Cemetery and Mortuary Association of California
Analysis Prepared by : Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958
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