S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8551
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              January 8, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  BUTTENSCHON -- read once and referred to the
   Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions
 
 AN ACT to amend the not-for-profit corporation law, in relation to main-
   tenance of abandoned cemeteries; and to repeal certain  provisions  of
   such law relating thereto
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of section 1506-c of the  not-
 for-profit corporation law, as added by chapter 363 of the laws of 2009,
 are amended to read as follows:
   (a)  Upon  application  and approval by the cemetery board, a cemetery
 corporation may assume management and maintenance of an abandoned  ceme-
 tery. For the purposes of this section, abandoned cemetery means a ceme-
 tery  which  was  [previously owned by a cemetery corporation] organized
 pursuant to this chapter or existing by virtue of the membership  corpo-
 ration law, for which there no longer exists any corporate board or body
 to  maintain  it,  and  for  which  there is no sufficient trust fund or
 endowment to  provide  ordinary  and  necessary  care  and  maintenance.
 Provided, however, that in no event shall the cemetery board approve the
 assumption  of  the  management and maintenance of an abandoned cemetery
 under this section if the abandoned cemetery  was  affiliated  with  any
 religious  denomination  or  tradition or if the majority of the persons
 whose bodies were interred in such cemetery  were  affiliated  with  any
 religious  denomination  or  tradition  unless the cemetery assuming the
 management and  maintenance  of  such  abandoned  cemetery  follows  the
 customs and practices of the same religious denomination or tradition.
   (b)  A  cemetery corporation assuming management and maintenance of an
 abandoned cemetery [shall] MAY make application for  funds  pursuant  to
 paragraph  (h)  of  section  fifteen  hundred  seven of this article and
 section ninety-seven-r of the state finance law for maintenance of aban-
 doned cemeteries. Within sixty days of submission of a completed  appli-
 cation, the cemetery board shall approve or deny such application.
   (c)  Monies  disbursed under such assumption shall be used exclusively
 for the purpose of the management and maintenance of an abandoned  ceme-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD02762-02-4
 A. 8551                             2
 
 tery  [such  as the ordinary and necessary care of a cemetery, including
 the removal of grass and weeds, the refilling of graves, and the preser-
 vation, care, and fencing of a cemetery, and also including the care  of
 crypts,  niches, grave sites, monuments, and memorials paid for by means
 of the general fund or special fund  or  the  income  applied  from  the
 permanent  maintenance  fund,  perpetual care fund, monument maintenance
 fund, general fund, or a special fund  of  the  abandoned  cemetery]  AS
 PROVIDED  IN  SUBPARAGRAPH  THREE  OF  PARAGRAPH  (H) OF SECTION FIFTEEN
 HUNDRED SEVEN OF THIS ARTICLE.
   § 2. Subparagraph 2 of paragraph (a) and  subparagraphs  1  and  3  of
 paragraph  (h)  of  section  1507 of the not-for-profit corporation law,
 subparagraph 2 of paragraph (a) as amended by chapter 509 of the laws of
 2014 and subparagraphs 1 and 3 of paragraph (h) as amended by a  chapter
 of the laws of 2023 amending the not-for-profit corporation law relating
 to  authorizing  the maintenance of abandoned cemeteries, as proposed in
 legislative bills numbers S. 490 and A. 1477, are  amended  to  read  as
 follows:
   (2)  The permanent maintenance fund is hereby declared to be and shall
 be held by the corporation as a trust fund, for the purpose of maintain-
 ing and preserving the cemetery, including  all  lots,  crypts,  niches,
 plots,  and  parts thereof. The principal of such fund shall be invested
 in such securities as are permitted for the investment of trust funds by
 section 11-2.3 of the estates, powers and trusts law. The income in  the
 form  of  interest and ordinary dividends therefrom shall be used solely
 for the maintenance and preservation of the cemetery grounds.  In  addi-
 tion, the governing board of the corporation may appropriate for expend-
 iture  solely  for  the  maintenance  and  preservation  of the cemetery
 grounds a portion of the net appreciation, in the fair market  value  of
 the principal of the trust, as is prudent under the standard established
 by  article  five-A  of this chapter, the prudent management of institu-
 tional funds act. In the event that  a  cemetery  corporation  seeks  to
 appropriate  any  percentage  of  its  net appreciation in its permanent
 maintenance fund in accordance  with  this  subparagraph,  the  cemetery
 corporation  shall  provide  notice  of  such  proposed appropriation by
 certified mail to the cemetery board not less than sixty days in advance
 of such proposed appropriation and shall disclose such appropriation  as
 part  of  and  in  addition  to  their  annual reporting requirements as
 defined in section fifteen hundred eight of this article, setting  forth
 the  amount  of  funds  to  be appropriated for such expenditure and its
 effect on the permanent maintenance fund.  Such  proposed  appropriation
 shall  become  effective sixty days after receipt of such notice, unless
 the cemetery board within such sixty-day period  notifies  the  cemetery
 corporation  that  the  board  objects  to  the  proposed appropriation.
 Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this subparagraph, all prin-
 cipal of the permanent maintenance 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 may make an  order
 permitting the principal or a part thereof to be used for the purpose of
 current  maintenance and preservation of the cemetery or otherwise. Such
 application may be made by the cemetery board on notice  to  the  corpo-
 ration or by the corporation on notice to the cemetery board. Unless the
 cemetery can clearly demonstrate that it lacks sufficient future revenue
 to  make  repayment,  any  such allowance from the permanent maintenance
 fund shall be in the form of a loan, and the court shall  determine  the
 method for repayment of such a loan by the cemetery to the fund.  IF THE
 CEMETERY CLEARLY DEMONSTRATES IT LACKS SUFFICIENT FUTURE REVENUE TO MAKE
 A. 8551                             3
 
 REPAYMENT SUCH ALLOWANCE FROM THE PERMANENT MAINTENANCE FUND SHALL BE IN
 THE  FORM OF A GRANT THAT THE CEMETERY IS NOT REQUIRED TO REPAY INTO ITS
 PERMANENT MAINTENANCE FUND. A CEMETERY, INCLUDING A  SURVIVING  CEMETERY
 FOLLOWING  A  MERGER OR CONSOLIDATED CEMETERY FOLLOWING A CONSOLIDATION,
 MAY SEEK A MODIFICATION OF THE METHOD OF REPAYMENT, OR CONVERSION  OF  A
 LOAN  TO A GRANT, IF THE CEMETERY CAN CLEARLY DEMONSTRATE THAT THE CEME-
 TERY MERGED OR CONSOLIDATED INTO THE SURVIVING CEMETERY WILL NOT PRODUCE
 SUFFICIENT FUTURE REVENUE TO MAKE REPAYMENT UNDER THE EXISTING LOAN.
   (1) Cemeteries incorporated under this article shall contribute  to  a
 fund created pursuant to section ninety-seven-r of the state finance law
 for the maintenance of abandoned cemeteries, [including the construction
 of  cemetery  fences,  placement  of  cemetery lights and replacement of
 cemetery doors and locks,] for the restoration of  property  damaged  by
 acts  of  vandalism, and for the repair or removal of monuments or other
 markers not owned by the cemetery  corporation  that  have  fallen  into
 disrepair  or  dilapidation  so as to create a dangerous condition. Such
 fund shall be administered by a  board  of  trustees  comprised  of  the
 secretary of state, the attorney general and the commissioner of health,
 or their designees, who shall serve without additional compensation.
   (3)  The  moneys of the fund shall be expended equally for the mainte-
 nance of abandoned cemeteries previously owned by a corporation incorpo-
 rated pursuant to this chapter or the membership  corporations  law  and
 the  repair  of  cemetery  vandalism damage and the repair or removal of
 monuments or other  markers  not  owned  by  the  cemetery  corporation,
 provided,  however,  that  the cemetery board may determine that circum-
 stances necessitate an unequal distribution due to  specific  needs  and
 may  provide  for  such  distribution. For purposes of this section, the
 maintenance of abandoned cemeteries may include the ORDINARY AND  NECES-
 SARY  CARE  OF  A CEMETERY, SUCH AS THE construction of cemetery fences,
 placement of cemetery lights, removal of grass and weeds, demolition  or
 restoration  of  any buildings or structures in disrepair, the refilling
 of graves, the repair or removal of monuments or other markers not owned
 by the cemetery corporation that have fallen into disrepair or dilapida-
 tion so as to create a dangerous condition, [and] replacement  of  ceme-
 tery doors and locks, AND THE CARE OF CRYPTS, NICHES, GRAVE SITES, MONU-
 MENTS,  AND  MEMORIALS  PAID FOR BY MEANS OF THE GENERAL FUND OR SPECIAL
 FUND OR THE INCOME APPLIED FROM THE PERMANENT MAINTENANCE FUND,  PERPET-
 UAL  CARE  FUND  OR MONUMENT MAINTENANCE FUND OF THE ABANDONED CEMETERY.
 For the purposes of this paragraph, the term  "abandoned  cemetery"  may
 include  cemeteries  in  imminent danger of abandonment as determined by
 the New York state cemetery board.
   § 3. Subdivision (d) of section 1506-d of  the  not-for-profit  corpo-
 ration  law, as added by a chapter of the laws of 2023 amending the not-
 for-profit corporation law relating to authorizing  the  maintenance  of
 abandoned  cemeteries,  as  proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 490
 and A. 1477, is REPEALED.
   § 4. This act shall take effect on the  same  date  and  in  the  same
 manner  as  a  chapter  of  the laws of 2023 amending the not-for-profit
 corporation law relating to authorizing  the  maintenance  of  abandoned
 cemeteries, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 490 and A. 1477,
 takes effect.