Section 1507 and its amendment

§1507 allows a cemetery to appropriate any percentage of the net appreciation in its permanent maintenance fund or perpetual care funds (“Fund”) provided it gives sixty days advance notice to the Cemetery Board in addition to its normal reporting requirements. Previous to the passage of this amendment to §1507, a cemetery that wanted to make such an appropriation was required to utilize a formula that, according to the sponsor’s memorandum for the legislation, was “difficult for cemeteries to utilize or understand.” As a result, there were almost no reports of cemeteries using this provision.

The amendment to §1507 provides that, in deciding whether to appropriate a percentage of net appreciation, it must follow the Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (“PMIFA”), which is the standard set forth in Article 5-A of the NFPCL.

A cemetery that desires to appropriate a portion of net appreciation of the Fund must complete a Fund Notice. A cemetery can only make application once a year and failure to accurately and completely fill out the form will result in an objection to and disapproval of the application.