California Assembly Bill AB966 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 966AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 28, 2011 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Yamada FEBRUARY 18, 2011 An act to  amend Section 9061 of   add Section 9063.7 to  the Health and Safety Code, relating to cemetery districts. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 966, as amended, Yamada. Public cemetery districts: nonresident burial. The Public Cemetery District Law specifies the procedures for the formation of public cemetery districts, procedures for the selection of the district board of trustees and officers, and the powers and duties of the board. That law limits interments in public cemetery district cemeteries to residents of the district and nonresidents who meet specified criteria.  This bill would allow a public cemetery district to expand the definition of an eligible nonresident to include a person who has a significant and ongoing involvement with institutions within the district, as specified.   This bill would allow the Davis Cemetery District to inter, in a specified section of the cemetery, nonresidents if specified conditions are met.  This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for Davis Cemetery District.  Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   Section 9063.7 is added to the   Health and Safety Code   , to read:   9063.7. Notwithstanding Section 9060, the Davis Cemetery District may use its cemetery at 820 Pole Line Road, Davis, for up to a total of 500 interments, for interment in the ground of any person who meets the criteria for burial in that area but is not a resident of the 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 district has an endowment care fund that requires at least the minimum payment set pursuant to Section 9065. (c) The district requires the payment of a nonresident fee set pursuant to Section 9068.   SEC. 3.   The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of the unique disparity between the population of the Davis Cemetery District and the availability of cemetery plots.   SECTION 1.   Section 9061 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 9061. (a) A district may inter a person who is not a resident of the district or a person who does not pay property taxes on property located in the district in a cemetery owned by the district if all of the following apply: (1) The district has an endowment care fund that requires at least the minimum payment set pursuant to Section 9065. (2) The district requires the payment of a nonresident fee set pursuant to Section 9068. A board of trustees may adopt a written policy that permits waiving the payment of the nonresident fee for a nonresident who had purchased an interment right while a resident or a taxpayer. (3) The person meets the conditions listed in one or more of subdivisions (b) through (e). (b) A person is an eligible nonresident pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 9060 if the person is a family member of a person who is already interred in a cemetery owned by the district or is a family member of a person who has acquired interment rights in a cemetery owned by a district. (c) A person is an eligible nonresident pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 9060 if all of the following apply: (1) The person was a resident of the district or paid property taxes on property located in the district for continuous period of at least five years, a portion of which time period shall have occurred within the 10 years immediately before the person's death. (2) The district receives a written request for the interment of the person from a person who is a resident of the district or who pays property taxes on property located within the district, and the person submitting the written request is not a trustee, officer, or employee of the district and is not a funeral director or an employee of a funeral director. (3) The board of trustees determines that the cemetery has adequate space for the foreseeable future. (d) A person is an eligible nonresident pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 9060 if all of the following apply: (1) The person was a resident of this state at the time of death. (2) There is no private cemetery within a straight-line radius of 15 miles of the person's residence. (3) There is no private cemetery nearer to the person's residence than the nearest cemetery owned by the district. (4) The distances shall be measured in a straight line from the person's residence to the nearest private cemetery and the nearest cemetery owned by the district. (e) A person is an eligible nonresident pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 9060 if all of the following apply: (1) The person died while either: (A) Serving in the Armed Forces or the active militia, or (B) In the line of duty as a peace officer or firefighter. (2) The board of trustees determines that the cemetery has adequate space for the foreseeable future. (f) A public cemetery district may consider a person to be an eligible nonresident pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) if both of the following apply: (1) The person has a significant and ongoing involvement with institutions within the district, including, but not limited to, teaching in the schools, working for a city or county or city and county in the district, or belonging to a house of worship in the district. (2) The board of trustees determines that the cemetery has adequate space for the foreseeable future.