Bill Text: NJ A1417 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Revises various provisions of the "New Jersey Cemetery Act, 2003."
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-01-12 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Regulated Professions Committee [A1417 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-A1417-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
214th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2010 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman VINCENT PRIETO
District 32 (Bergen and Hudson)
Assemblyman PETER J. BIONDI
District 16 (Morris and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Revises various provisions of the "New Jersey Cemetery Act, 2003."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning the operation of cemetery companies and amending and supplementing P.L.2003, c.261.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 10 of P.L.2003, c.261 (C.45:27-10) is amended to read as follows:
10. a. In a cemetery company organized under this act, each owner of a grave, crypt or niche, including an owner who acquired or owns that grave, crypt or niche through testate or intestate succession, shall be a member of the cemetery company and shall have one vote for each grave, crypt or niche owned whenever voting by the members is required under the provisions of any law. Voting shall be subject to the following qualifications:
(1) If a grave, crypt or niche is owned by more than one person, then a majority of its owners shall decide among themselves who shall cast the vote.
(2) An owner shall not be entitled to vote unless all charges and assessments against the grave, crypt or niche have been paid.
(3) Proxy voting shall be permitted except that a proxy shall not be valid for more than three years after its date.
(4) Any person who owns certificates of interest or indebtedness shall have one vote for each $250 of the face amount of the certificates.
(5) A corporation, partnership or association that owns more than one grave, crypt or niche shall have one vote for each grave, crypt or niche owned, except that it shall not have more than 100 votes.
b. The directors or trustees of a cemetery company shall hold an annual meeting and report at each annual meeting on their activities and management and the condition of the property and affairs of the cemetery company. At least 20 days before the annual meeting a notice of the meeting shall be placed at some prominent place at the office of the cemetery company and shall be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the county in which the cemetery is located.
c. At least 15% of the directors or trustees of a cemetery company, but in no case less than one, shall be elected only by individuals who own one or more graves, crypts or niches in the cemetery as individuals for interment of their own remains or the remains of family members and who acquired those spaces by purchase, testate or intestate succession or otherwise.
(cf: P.L.2003, c.261, s.10)
2. Section 15 of P.L.2003, c.261 (C.45:27-15) is amended to read as follows:
15. a. Every cemetery company, other than a municipality, shall file an annual report with the board within 120 days after the close of the cemetery company's fiscal year. The report shall be filed by the cemetery company in a form established by the board, showing the extent and sources of augmentation of the Maintenance and Preservation Fund, the manner of expenditure of the income of the fund during the preceding year, and a list of the securities in which the trust funds are invested. At the time of filing the Maintenance and Preservation Fund report, a cemetery company, other than a religious corporation, shall pay a filing fee set by regulation. If the report filed is inadequate to apprise the board of the information it requires to administer the provisions of this act effectively, it shall request a supplemental report and it may order an investigation of the operations of the cemetery company. Officers and employees of a cemetery company shall exhibit the company's books, papers and securities to the board when requested and otherwise facilitate any examination of the company. Any officer or employee of a cemetery company may be required to testify under oath as to the conditions and affairs of the cemetery company.
b. Every cemetery company that contains a public mausoleum shall file an annual report in the form described in subsection a. of this section relating to its public mausoleum Building Maintenance Fund within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year.
c. If it appears to the board that the corpus of any trust fund is not being invested in accordance with the "Prudent Investor Act," P.L.1997, c.26 (C.3B:20-11.1 et seq.), the board may order the cemetery company to dispose of unauthorized securities immediately. If it appears that the Maintenance and Preservation Fund is not being maintained as required, the board may formulate a plan for the maintenance of the fund. Failure on the part of the cemetery company to implement the plan shall be a violation of this act.
d. The board, for good cause, may grant reasonable extensions for filing annual reports.
e. The annual report required by this section shall be subject to public access.
(cf: P.L.2003, c.261, s.15)
3. Section 16 of P.L.2003, c.261 (C.45:27-16) is amended to read as follows:
16. a. A cemetery company shall:
(1) adopt reasonable regulations for the use, management , including regulations governing qualification for membership, qualification as a trustee or director, and the method of election, and protection of the cemetery and of all interment spaces in it; for regulating the dividing marks between graves; for prohibiting or regulating the erection of structures; for preventing unsightly monuments, effigies and structures within the cemetery, and for their removal;
(2) fix reasonable charges for interment spaces, niches, products and services offered by the cemetery company; and
(3) keep its books, records and accounts so as to reflect the conduct of its business.
b. A cemetery company may:
(1) prohibit the placement of memorials, effigies or structures on parts of the cemetery and adopt reasonable regulations relating to uniformity, class, composition, material, kinds and sizes of all markers, monuments and other structures within the cemetery provided that the regulations are not established to prevent competition;
(2) sell adornments, embellishments, sod and plantings for use in the cemetery;
(3) prevent the use of interment spaces or niches for purposes that violate the cemetery restrictions and regulations;
(4) regulate the conduct of persons and prevent improper assemblages in the cemetery;
(5) reserve to the cemetery the exclusive right to open and fill graves, furnish equipment, manufacture and install foundations, set and seal crypts and vaults, seal niches and install flush memorials;
(6) regulate or prevent the introduction of embellishments or plants within the cemetery;
(7) prevent the interment in any interment space of human remains not entitled to interment there;
(8) as provided in this act, make provisions for the removal at the cost of the lot owner of any memorial, effigy or structure when either placed in violation of cemetery company rules and regulations or when it becomes dangerous or unsightly; and
(9) to the extent allowed by the regulations of the board, prohibit the interment of human remains or the placement of any memorial when there are any outstanding charges against the interment space.
c. A cemetery company, and any person engaged in the management, operation or control of a cemetery owned by a cemetery company, directly or indirectly, is specifically prohibited from engaging, directly or indirectly, in any of the following activities:
(1) the manufacture or sale of memorials;
(2) the manufacture or sale of private mausoleums;
(3) the manufacture or sale of vaults, including vaults installed in a grave before or after sale and including vaults joined with each other in the ground; and
(4) the conduct of any funeral home or the business or profession of mortuary science; provided that crematoriums operated in conjunction with funeral homes prior to December 1, 1971 are excepted from the provisions of this paragraph (4).
(cf: P.L.2003, c.261, s.16)
4. Section 18 of P.L.2003, c.261 (C.45:27-18) is amended to read as follows:
18. a. Before conducting any business with the public, a cemetery company shall file with the board the name and address of the cemetery company and a copy of its regulations, including regulations governing qualification for membership, qualification as a trustee or director, and the method of election, and its charges for services. New and amended regulations and changes in charges for services shall be filed before they take effect. Each filing shall be accompanied by the filing fee set by regulation.
b. The rules, regulations, including those governing qualification for membership, qualification as a trustee or director, and the method of election, and charges for services shall be suitably printed and shall be conspicuously posted by the cemetery company in each of its public offices and on cemetery grounds.
(cf: P.L.2003, c.261, s.18)
5. (New section) a. Within 10 days of a written request therefor by a member or owner of a grave, crypt or niche, a cemetery company shall make available, in writing:
(1) a copy of the annual report required by section 15 of P.L.2003, c.261 (C.45:27-15); and
(2) the rules and regulations governing qualification for membership, for directors or trustees and the method of election.
b. If the cemetery company refuses or fails to comply with a request pursuant to this section, the member or owner who made the request, or the board on his behalf, may apply to the Superior Court for appropriate injunctive relief. In any action for injunctive relief pursuant to this section, the court may order the cemetery company to pay attorneys' fees and costs to any person it finds was wrongfully denied access to any of the information as required by this section.
6. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill makes various revisions to the "New Jersey Cemetery Act, 2003."
The act provides that each owner of an interment space shall have one vote for each grave, crypt or niche. This bill clarifies that an individual who acquires or owns one or more interment spaces through testate or intestate succession shall have one vote for each space owned.
The bill requires that at least 15% of the directors or trustees of a cemetery company, but in no case less than one, shall be elected only by individuals who own one or more interment spaces in the cemetery as individuals for interment of their own remains or the remains of family members and who acquired those spaces by purchase, testate or intestate succession or otherwise.
The bill requires that the qualifications for membership or as a director or a trustee of a cemetery company and the method of election must be filed with the New Jersey Cemetery Board along with the rules and regulations currently filed. The same information must also be posted in each of the company's offices.
The bill provides that a member or an owner of an interment space may request certain information of a cemetery company, including: (1) a copy of the annual report; and (2) the rules and regulations governing qualifications for members and directors or trustees and the method of election. If the cemetery company fails or refuses to provide the information in writing within 10 days, the member or owner who made the request, or the New Jersey Cemetery Board on his behalf, may apply to the Superior Court for injunctive relief, and the court is authorized to order the cemetery company to pay attorneys' fees and costs to any person it finds was wrongfully denied access to any of the information.
Finally, the bill requires that the annual report shall be subject to
public access.
