NY State Senate Bill 2015-S3300

Senate Bill S3300

Signed By Governor

2015-2016 Legislative Session

Relates to the regulation of cemetery trust funds and finances by the cemetery board

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - Signed by Governor

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Dec 11, 2015	signed chap.539
Nov 30, 2015	delivered to governor
Jun 16, 2015	returned to senate passed assembly
Jun 15, 2015	ordered to third reading rules cal.333 substituted for a3095
May 18, 2015	referred to corporations, authorities and commissions delivered to assembly passed senate
Apr 29, 2015	advanced to third reading
Apr 28, 2015	2nd report cal.
Apr 27, 2015	1st report cal.430
Feb 04, 2015	referred to corporations, authorities and commissions

Votes

- May 18, 2015 - Floor Vote
  S3300
  
  60
  
  Aye
  
  0
  
  Nay
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  3
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Floor Vote: May 18, 2015
      
      aye (60)
      
      Addabbo Jr.
      
      Amedore
      
      Avella
      
      Bonacic
      
      Boyle
      
      Breslin
      
      Carlucci
      
      Comrie
      
      Croci
      
      DeFrancisco
      
      Dilan
      
      Espaillat
      
      Farley
      
      Felder
      
      Flanagan
      
      Funke
      
      Gallivan
      
      Gianaris
      
      Golden
      
      Griffo
      
      Hamilton
      
      Hannon
      
      Hassell-Thompson
      
      Hoylman-Sigal
      
      Kennedy
      
      Klein
      
      Krueger
      
      LaValle
      
      Lanza
      
      Larkin
      
      Latimer
      
      Little
      
      Marcellino
      
      Marchione
      
      Martins
      
      Montgomery
      
      Murphy
      
      Nozzolio
      
      Ortt
      
      Panepinto
      
      Parker
      
      Peralta
      
      Perkins
      
      Ranzenhofer
      
      Ritchie
      
      Rivera
      
      Robach
      
      Sampson
      
      Sanders Jr.
      
      Savino
      
      Serino
      
      Serrano
      
      Seward
      
      Skelos
      
      Squadron
      
      Stavisky
      
      Stewart-Cousins
      
      Valesky
      
      Venditto
      
      Young
      
      excused (3)
      
      Diaz
      
      Libous
      
      O'Mara
  Apr 27, 2015 - Corporations, Authorities And Commissions Committee Vote
  S3300
  
  7
  
  Aye
  
  0
  
  Nay
  
  0
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Corporations, Authorities And Commissions Committee Vote: Apr 27, 2015
      
      aye (7)
      
      Flanagan
      
      Larkin
      
      Martins
      
      Ortt
      
      Perkins
      
      Ranzenhofer
      
      Squadron

2015-S3300 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A3095
Law Section:: Not-for-Profit Corporation Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§1506, 1507 & 1513, N-PC L
Versions Introduced in 2013-2014 Legislative Session:: S4324, A6383

2015-S3300 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to the regulation of cemetery trust funds and finances by the cemetery board.

2015-S3300 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S3300

TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the not-for-profit corporation law, in relation to
regulation of cemetery trust funds and finances by the cemetery board

PURPOSE:

This bill would modernize and streamline provisions of the
Not-for-Profit Corporation Law to provide clear regulatory guidance to
the New York State Cemetery Board in approvals of cemetery
transactions and financial oversight. The State Cemetery Board is
composed of the Secretary of State, Attorney General and Commissioner
of Health or their designees.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends paragraph (a) of Section 1506 of
Not-for-Profit Corporation Law to grant authority for the approval of
the purchase of cemetery land to the State Cemetery Board. It
eliminates the unnecessary and duplicative step of having this
approval signed off on by the local Supreme Court after the State
Cemetery Board has approved the transaction.

Section 2 of the bill amends Section 1507 of Not-for-Profit

Corporation Law to grant the authority of the regulation of access to
cemetery trust funds to the State Cemetery Board through application
and review. This section further amends Section 1507 of Not-for-Profit
Corporation Law to modernize the process of the designation of
fiduciaries for cemeteries and require that notice shall provided to
the State Cemetery Board for review.

Section 3 of the bill relates to the resale of a lot by a lot owner to
reflect the current process in place and utilized by the State
Cemetery Board.

Section 4 of the proposal indicates that this act shall take effect
immediately.

EXISTING LAW:

The Not-for-Profit Corporation Law regulating cemeteries does not
currently reflect a modem and streamlined regulatory approach to
cemetery regulation.

JUSTIFICATION:

Existing statues related to cemetery regulation are duplicative and
create unnecessary delays in the proper oversight of regulated
cemetery entities. New York's regulated cemeteries are among the most
supervised in the nation. The State Cemetery Board is already required
to approve and be involved in the regulations of cemeteries addressed
by this bill. This legislation would grant clear authority to the
State Cemetery Board to regulate these entities.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:


2013-14 - S.4324-A/A.6383-A - PASSED SENATE/Corporations

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect immediately.

2015-S3300 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  3300

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            February 4, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  RANZENHOFER -- read twice and ordered printed, and
  when printed to be committed to the Committee on Corporations, Author-
  ities and Commissions

AN ACT to amend the not-for-profit corporation law, in relation to regu-
  lation of cemetery trust funds and finances by the cemetery board

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1. Paragraphs (a) and (i) of section 1506 of the not-for-pro-
fit corporation law, paragraph (a) as added by chapter 871 of  the  laws
of 1977 and paragraph (i) as amended by chapter 292 of the laws of 1999,
are amended to read as follows:
  (a)   Purchase of land; notice to CEMETERY board [and court approval].
No cemetery corporation, in purchasing real  property  hereafter,  shall
pay or agree to pay more than the fair and reasonable market value ther-
eof.   The terms of the purchase, including the price to be paid and the
method of payment,  shall  be  subject[,  upon  notice]  to  NOTICE  AND
APPROVAL  OF  the cemetery board[, to approval by the supreme court in a
district where any portion of the land is located].  In determining  the
fair  and  reasonable  market value, the [court] CEMETERY BOARD may take
into consideration the method by which the purchase price is to be paid.
  (i) Sale or disposition of cemetery lands. (1) No cemetery corporation
may sell or dispose of the fee of all or any part of its lands dedicated
to cemetery use, unless it  shall  prove  to  the  satisfaction  of  the
supreme court in the district where any portion of the cemetery lands is
located  OR  THE CEMETERY BOARD, THAT either: (A) [that] all bodies have
been removed from each and every part of the cemetery, that all the lots
in the entire cemetery have been reconveyed to the corporation  and  are
not  used for burial purposes, and that it has no debts and liabilities,
or (B) [that] the land to be sold or disposed of is not used or  is  not
physically  adaptable  for burial purposes and that the sale or disposi-
tion will benefit the cemetery corporation and the owners of  plots  and

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD02456-01-5

S. 3300                             2

graves in the cemetery, and (C) [that] the sale or disposition is not to
a  funeral entity as defined in paragraph (c) of section fifteen hundred
six-a of this article. (2) If the sale or disposition is  made  pursuant
to  subparagraph  (A) of subdivision one of this paragraph, the cemetery
shall satisfy the court OR THE CEMETERY BOARD that it is in  the  public
interest  to  dispose of such cemetery land in the manner proposed; that
the subject land is not suitable for cemetery purposes or is  no  longer
needed by the community for such cemetery uses or purposes; and that the
subject land is being sold for its current market value. (3) If the sale
or  disposition  of  the  land  is  made pursuant to subparagraph (B) of
subdivision one of this paragraph, the court  OR  CEMETERY  BOARD  shall
order  that the consideration received by the cemetery corporation, less
the necessary expenses incurred, shall be deposited into  the  permanent
maintenance  fund  established  by  the cemetery corporation pursuant to
paragraph (a) of section fifteen hundred  seven  of  this  article.  (4)
Notice  of  any  application hereunder shall be given IN ADDITION to the
cemetery board, to the holders of certificates of indebtedness and  land
shares  of  the  cemetery  corporation, [and] to any person [interested]
HAVING INFORMED THE CEMETERY BOARD BY PETITION OR NOTICE OF INTEREST  in
the  proceeding  AND TO ANY PERSON INTERESTED IN THE PROCEEDING pursuant
to section five hundred eleven of this chapter (Petition  for  leave  of
court).
  S  2.  Paragraph  (e) and subparagraph 2 of paragraph (e-1) of section
1507 of the not-for-profit corporation law, paragraph (e)  as  added  by
chapter 871 of the laws of 1977 and subparagraph 2 of paragraph (e-1) as
amended  by  chapter  111  of  the  laws of 2000, are amended to read as
follows:
  (e) Designation of fiduciary corporation by directors or  trustees  of
cemetery  corporation to act as custodians of funds. Notwithstanding the
provisions of any other law,  the  directors  or  trustees  of  cemetery
corporations  are hereby authorized to designate a bank or trust company
to act as custodian and trustee of any or all of the respective funds of
such cemetery corporation received by it for the perpetual care of  lots
in the cemetery thereof pursuant to [subdivision] PARAGRAPH (b), of this
section,  the permanent maintenance of such cemetery pursuant to [subdi-
vision] PARAGRAPH (a) of this section, and for special purposes pursuant
to [subdivision] PARAGRAPH (f) of this section. Such  corporate  trustee
shall  be designated by a resolution duly adopted by the board of direc-
tors or trustees and approved by a justice of the supreme court  of  the
judicial  district  in which the cemetery of said corporation is located
OR THE CEMETERY BOARD; and the directors or trustees  of  such  cemetery
corporation  may, with the approval of the justice of the supreme court,
revoke such trust, and either take over such trust fund or name  another
trustee  to  handle the same, but if not so revoked, such trust shall be
perpetual.  Any bank or trust company accepting any such  cemetery  fund
shall  keep  the same separate from all other funds, except that it may,
irrespective of any provision contained in this article invest the  same
in  a  legal common trust fund or in shares of a mutual trust investment
company organized under the banking law, and  shall  pay  over  the  net
income  to the directors or trustees of the cemetery corporation by whom
it shall be expended and applied to the purpose  for  which  such  trust
fund  was paid to the cemetery corporations and accounted for in accord-
ance with such [subdivisions]  PARAGRAPHS  (a),  (b)  and  (f)  of  this
section.
  (2)  The principal of the fund shall be invested in securities permit-
ted for the investment of trust funds by sections 11-2.2 and  11-2.3  of

S. 3300                             3

the  estates,  powers  and  trusts law. The principal of such fund shall
remain inviolate, except that upon application to the [supreme court  in
a  district  where  a  portion  of  the cemetery grounds is located, the
court]  CEMETERY BOARD, WHICH may make an order permitting the principal
or a part thereof to be used for  the  purpose  of  restoring  monuments
damaged  or defaced by an act of vandalism. The income arising from such
investment shall be used solely for the  costs  and  expenses  resulting
from an act of vandalism against monuments in such cemetery.
  S  3.  Paragraph (c) of section 1513 of the not-for-profit corporation
law, as added by chapter 871 of the laws of 1977, is amended to read  as
follows:
  (c) Resale by lot owner. Before any burial shall have been made in any
such  lot, plot or part thereof, or, if all the bodies therein have been
lawfully removed, the lot owner may sell or convey  such  lot,  plot  or
part  thereof [subject to the prior approval of the cemetery board. Such
approval shall not be granted unless] UPON NOTICE TO THE CEMETERY.  SUCH
SALE  SHALL  ONLY  OCCUR IN THOSE INSTANCES WHERE the owner of such lot,
plot or part thereof shall have offered it to the  cemetery  corporation
within [two years] ONE YEAR prior to the [application for such approval]
SALE,  in  writing  by  registered  or certified mail, at the price paid
therefor by said lot owner, together with simple interest at the rate of
four per centum per annum,  and  the  cemetery  corporation  shall  have
failed to accept such offer within thirty days after the making thereof.
[In  the  event  the lot owner shall have acquired the lot, plot or part
thereof other than by purchase, and provided  the  cemetery  corporation
and  the  lot  owner cannot agree upon a price, the cemetery board shall
fix a price therefor. In arriving at the price the cemetery board  shall
take into consideration the original price for which the cemetery corpo-
ration  sold  the lot, plot or part thereof, and any other circumstances
or factor which equitably relates to the price. The] SUBSEQUENT  TO  THE
RECEIPT  OF NOTICE OF SALE OF SUCH LOT, PLOT OR PART THEREOF, THE secre-
tary of the cemetery corporation shall file and record in its books  all
instruments  of  transfer.  An  owner may convey or devise to the corpo-
ration his right and title in and to any such lot, plot or part thereof.
  S 4. This act shall take effect immediately.

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