§ 1509. Cemetery rules and regulations; charges and lot tax assessments.

(a) Rules and regulations. The directors of a cemetery corporation
shall make reasonable rules and regulations for the use, care,
management and protection of the property of the corporation and of all
lots, plots and parts thereof; for regulating the dividing marks between
the lots, plots and parts thereof; for prohibiting or regulating the
erection of structures upon such lots, plots or parts thereof; for
preventing unsightly monuments, effigies and structures within the
cemetery grounds, and for the removal thereof; for regulating the
introduction and care of plants, trees and shrubs within such grounds;
for the prevention of the burial in a lot, plot or part thereof, of a
body not entitled to burial therein; for regulating or preventing
disinterments; for regulating the conduct of persons while within the
cemetery grounds; for excluding improper persons and preventing improper
assemblages therein. The directors may prescribe penalties for the
violation of any such rule or regulation, not exceeding twenty-five
dollars for each violation, which shall be recoverable by the
corporation in a civil action.

(b) Charges for services. The directors of a cemetery corporation
shall fix and make reasonable charges for any acts and services ordered
by the owner and rendered by the corporation in connection with the use,
care, including perpetual, annual and special care, management and
protection of lots, plots and parts thereof. In determining said charges
the directors shall consider the propriety and the fair and reasonable
cost and expense of rendering the services or performing the work for
which such charges are made.

(c) Cemetery board approval. (1) A cemetery corporation's rules,
regulations and original charges shall not become effective unless and
until approved by the cemetery board as hereinafter provided. (2) The
directors of any cemetery corporation, organized on or before August
thirty-first, nineteen hundred forty-nine, shall file in the office of
the cemetery board the name and address of the corporation together with
its rules, regulations and charges, and a statement showing the basis
upon which they were made, within ninety days after the time this
section as hereby amended takes effect. The directors of any cemetery
corporation organized on or after September first, nineteen hundred
forty-nine, shall file in the office of the cemetery board the name and
address of the corporation together with its rules, regulations and
charges, and a statement showing the basis on which they were made,
within ninety days after the date of the filing of the certificate of
incorporation in the department of state. (3) Within six months after
the date of such filing, the cemetery board shall make and file in its
office an order approving, disapproving or amending such rules,
regulations and original charges in whole or part. Such rules,
regulations and charges, if approved with or without amendment, shall
become effective as approved upon the filing of such order by the
cemetery board in its office. The cemetery board shall notify the
directors of the action taken by it and its reasons therefor by
registered mail addressed to the corporation at its principal office. In
making its determination as to the schedule of charges the cemetery
board shall consider the propriety and the fair and reasonable cost and
expense of rendering the services or performing the work for which such
charges are made. In passing upon the rules and regulations, the
cemetery board shall consider the interests of the members of the
corporation and the public interest in the proper maintenance and
operation of burial grounds. (4) The rules, regulations and charges of
any cemetery corporation existing on or before August thirty-first,
nineteen hundred forty-nine, shall remain in effect until the cemetery
board files in its office an order pursuant to the provisions of
subdivision three hereof. A cemetery corporation organized on or after
September first, nineteen hundred forty-nine, may enforce the rules,
regulations and charges filed by it in the office of the cemetery board
until the cemetery board files in its office an order pursuant to the
provisions of subdivision three hereof.

(d) Services not in list of charges. In the event that a cemetery
corporation provides any services not included in the list of charges,
and for which a charge cannot reasonably be fixed in advance, the
charges made therefor shall be reviewable by the cemetery board. In the
event that the cemetery board determines that an excessive, unauthorized
or improper charge has been made for such services or that the services
have not been properly performed, it may direct the cemetery corporation
to pay to the person from whom such charge was collected a sum
equivalent to three times the amount of the excess as determined by the
cemetery board, or in the case of work not properly performed, it may
direct the cemetery corporation to perform the work properly.

(e) Amendment and modification. (1) The rules and regulations of a
cemetery corporation may be amended or added to by the corporation by
filing such proposed amendments or additions in the office of the
cemetery board but no such amendment or addition shall be effective
unless and until an order approving such amendments or additions is made
by the cemetery board and filed in its office in the same manner as that
applicable to the original filing of the rules, regulations and charges
of the cemetery corporation. (2) The charges of a cemetery corporation
may be amended or added to by the corporation by filing an application
containing such proposed amendment or addition in the office of the
division of cemeteries and shall be processed in accordance with
subparagraph three of this paragraph. The cemetery board shall consider
the propriety and the fair and reasonable costs and expense of rendering
the services or performing the work for which such charges are made. The
effective rules, regulations or charges of a cemetery corporation may be
amended, modified or vacated by the cemetery board at any time. The
cemetery board shall notify the directors of the action taken by it and
its reasons therefor by registered or certified mail addressed to the
corporation at its principal office. In amending, modifying or vacating
any rule, regulation or charge, the cemetery board shall be guided by
the standards set forth in subparagraph three of paragraph (c) of this
section. (3) Any application setting forth the proposed amendment of, or
addition to, the charges of a cemetery corporation as provided for by
subparagraph two of this paragraph shall be processed in accordance
either with clauses A, B and C of this subparagraph or in accordance
with clause D of this subdivision.

A. Within thirty-five days following receipt of the application, the
board or the division may request from the cemetery corporation any
additional information or documentation deemed necessary to complete
such application, and such application shall not be complete for the
purposes of compliance with this subparagraph until the requested
information has been received. If no such request is made, the
application shall be deemed to be complete on the thirty-fifth day after
its receipt by the division.

B. An application setting forth the proposed amendment of, or addition
to, the charges of a cemetery corporation shall be deemed to be approved
for any cemetery corporation holding, including unrestricted funds, cash
and investments totalling less than four hundred thousand dollars, if
the board does not object to the proposed charges within sixty days
following: (i) the date on which the application shall have been deemed
to be complete or (ii) the date on which the requested information
necessary to complete the application shall have been received,
whichever is later. If the board objects to the proposed charges, it
shall notify the directors in writing with the reasons therefor, such
notice to be mailed by registered or certified mail to the corporation
at its principal office, not less than three business days before the
end of such sixty day period. If the board approves such amendment of or
addition to the charges, it shall do so by order.

C. An application setting forth the proposed amendment of, or addition
to, the charges of a cemetery corporation shall be deemed to be approved
for any cemetery corporation holding, including unrestricted funds, cash
and investments totalling more than four hundred thousand dollars, if
the board does not object to the proposed charges within ninety days
following: (i) the date on which the application shall have been deemed
to be complete or (ii) the date on which the requested information
necessary to complete the application shall have been received,
whichever is later. If the board objects to the proposed charges, it
shall notify the directors in writing with the reasons therefor, such
notice to be mailed by registered or certified mail to the corporation
at its principal office, not less than three business days before the
end of such ninety day period. If the board approves such amendment of
or addition to the charges, it shall do so by order.

D. A cemetery may apply to the cemetery board for an increase in any
or all of its approved charges by submitting a schedule to the cemetery
board showing its currently approved charges and the proposed charges
after applying the employment cost index to said charges as it appears
in the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Series ECU10001A, not seasonally adjusted, total compensation, civilian,
twelve month percent change for all workers schedule or any subsequent
schedule that may be adopted by the United States Department of Labor,
Bureau of Labor Statistics, as a replacement for the aforementioned
schedule. Any application by a cemetery under this subparagraph will
prohibit application under subparagraph two of this paragraph for one
year from the effective date of the approved increase under this
subparagraph. An application setting forth the proposed changes in
charges shall be deemed to be approved if the board does not object to
the proposed charges within sixty-days following the date on which the
application is submitted by a cemetery. If the board objects to the
proposed charges, it shall notify the directors in writing with the
reasons therefore, such notice to be mailed to the corporation at its
principal office, not less than three business days before the end of
such sixty day period. If the board approves such amendment of or
addition to the charges, it shall do so by order. The cemetery board
shall not approve application by a cemetery under this subparagraph if
(i) the proposed percentage increases exceed the employment cost index
percentages as provided in this subparagraph; (ii) there have been
invasions of the permanent maintenance fund by the cemetery that have
not been repaid or are not currently being repaid; (iii) the cemetery is
currently not in compliance with any court order or any cemetery board
order that is not under judicial review under paragraph (d) of section
1504; (iv) the cemetery has not filed in a timely manner its annual
reports with the division of cemeteries as required under section 1508
(Reports by cemeteries); (v) all assessments as required under paragraph
(c) of section 1508 (Reports by cemeteries) and vandalism fund payments
as required under subparagraph two of paragraph (h) of section 1507
(Trust funds) have not been paid.

(f) Lot tax assessment. (1) If the funds of a cemetery corporation
applicable to the improvement and care of its cemetery, or applicable to
the construction of a receiving vault therein for the common use of lot
owners, be insufficient for such purposes, the directors of the
corporation, not oftener than once in any year and for such purposes
only, may, upon the prior approval of the cemetery board, which shall
determine the necessity and propriety thereof, levy a tax on some basis
to be determined by the directors of such corporation, but no such tax
shall exceed two dollars on any one lot, except that with the written
consent of two-thirds of the lot owners or by the vote of a majority of
the lot owners present at an annual meeting, or at a special meeting
duly called for such purpose, such tax may be for an amount which shall
not exceed a total of five dollars per annum per lot, and the tax on any
one lot shall not exceed five dollars per annum but the taxes may be
levied upon each lot in the first instance for a sum sufficient for the
improvement and care of the lot, but no greater sum than five dollars
shall be collected in any one year. The whole tax levied may be
collected in sums of five dollars in successive years in the manner
herein provided. (2) Notice of such tax shall be served on the lot
owners or where two or more persons are owners of the same lot, on one
of them, either personally, or by leaving it at his residence, with a
person of mature age and discretion, or by mail, if he resides in a
city, town or village where the office of the corporation is not
located, or in case the residence or whereabouts of the owner cannot be
ascertained, by publication once a week for four successive weeks in a
newspaper published in the town where such cemetery is located, or if no
newspaper is published in such town then in some newspaper published in
the county where such cemetery is located. (3) If such tax remain unpaid
for more than thirty days after the service of such notice, the
president and secretary of the corporation may issue a warrant to the
treasurer of the corporation, requiring him to collect such tax in the
same manner as school collectors are required to collect school taxes;
and such treasurer shall have the same power and be subject to the same
liabilities in executing such warrant as a collector of school taxes has
or is subject to by law in executing a warrant for the collection of
school taxes. (4) If the taxes so levied remain unpaid for five years
after the levying of such tax the amount thereof with interest shall be
a lien on the unused portion of the lot which is subject to such tax,
and no portion of the lot so taxed shall be used by the owner thereof
for burial purposes, while any such tax remains unpaid. (5) If at the
expiration of five years from the date of the service of the first
notice of assessment as herein provided, any such assessment or the
interest thereon shall remain unpaid, the corporation may sell the
unused portion of such lot at public auction upon the cemetery grounds,
in the following manner: If the person owning such lot resides within
the state, a written notice, under the seal of such cemetery
corporation, if it have a seal, and the hand of the president or
secretary thereof, stating the amount of such tax or taxes unpaid and
that such unused portion of such lot will be sold at a time therein to
be specified, not less than twenty days from the date of the service of
such notice, shall be personally served upon such owner; if such owner
is not a resident of the state, or if the place of his residence cannot
with due diligence be ascertained, or if, for any other reason
satisfactory to the court, personal service cannot with due diligence be
made upon such owner, such cemetery corporation, or any of its officers,
may present a duly verified petition stating the facts to the county
court of the county in which such cemetery lands are situated, or to the
supreme court, and such court may upon satisfactory proof, by its order,
direct the service of such notice in the manner provided by the civil
practice law and rules for the substituted service of a summons. The
president or secretary of such corporation, or any suitable and proper
person appointed by it or by the court, upon filing proof of publication
and service of such notice as provided by section three hundred fourteen
of the surrogate's court procedure act may make such sale, and such sale
may be adjourned from time to time for the accommodation of the parties
or for other proper reasons. Previous notice of such sale shall be
posted at the main entrance of the cemetery. Prior to such sale such
corporation shall cause such lot to be resurveyed and replotted showing
the part thereof not used for burial purposes and only such unused
portion shall be sold. The cemetery corporation may at any such sale
purchase any such lots or parts of lots. The surplus remaining after
paying all assessments, interest, cost and charges shall be set aside by
the corporation, as a fund for the care and improvement of the portion
of such lot that has been used for burial purposes. In case the proceeds
of such sale shall amount to more than thirty dollars the person making
it shall make his report, under oath, to the court, of the proceedings
and shall state the amount for which such lot was sold and that it was
sold to the highest responsible bidder, together with the names of the
purchasers, and the court may and in a proper case shall, by order,
confirm the sale; in all other cases the person making such sale shall
file in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the
cemetery lands are situated a like report duly verified; on the filing
of such order of confirmation or such report, as the case may be, the
ownership of the unoccupied portion of such lot shall vest in the
purchaser thereof. (6) The directors of any such corporation may make a
contract with a lot owner which shall provide for the payment by him of
an agreed gross sum in lieu of further taxes and assessments and that
upon the payment of such gross sum the lot of such owner shall be
thereafter exempt from taxes and assessments.

(g) Purchases through office of general services. Notwithstanding the
provisions of any general, special or local law, any officer or agent of
a cemetery corporation subject to the provisions of this article
authorized to make purchases of commodities and services may make such
purchases through the office of general services subject to such rules
as may be established from time to time pursuant to section one hundred
sixty-three of the state finance law; provided that any such purchase
shall exceed five hundred dollars and that the cemetery corporation for
which such officer or agent acts shall accept sole responsibility for
any payment due the vendor. All purchases shall be subject to audit and
inspection by the cemetery corporation for which made. Two or more
cemetery corporations may join in making purchases pursuant to this
section and, for the purposes of this section, such groups shall be
deemed a cemetery corporation.