2023 New York Laws › NPC - Not-For-Profit Corporation › Article 15 - Public Cemetery Corporations › 1506-D - Additional Requirements for Merger or Consolidation of Cemetery Corporations in Certain Circumstances.

§ 1506-d. Additional  requirements  for  merger  or  consolidation  of
cemetery  corporations  in  certain  circumstances.  (a)  A  merger   or
consolidation  of  cemetery corporations may be approved notwithstanding
that the surviving corporation or consolidated corporation will own land
that does not form one continuous tract  or  that  exceeds  two  hundred
acres in the aggregate, but only with the recommendation of the cemetery
board.  The  cemeteries  proposing  such a merger or consolidation shall
first prove to the satisfaction of the cemetery board that:
(1) the plan of merger or consolidation is economically  feasible  and
financially responsible;
(2)  the  merger  or consolidation does not harm the interests of each
cemetery corporation, their lot owners, the  communities  in  which  the
constituent cemeteries are located, or the state;
(3) the surviving or consolidated corporation will have the resources,
ability  and commitment of directors and officers to ensure that all the
constituent cemeteries are properly operated and maintained,  that  they
will  not  fall into disrepair and dilapidation and become a burden upon
the community, that they will be operated for the mutual benefit of  lot
owners,  and  that  they will continue to serve the local communities in
which they are located;
(4) the municipalities which would be required to assume the care  and
control  of  any  part  of the cemetery if the surviving or consolidated
cemetery corporation were to be abandoned  have  been  notified  of  the
proposed merger or consolidation; and
(5)  the  plan  of  merger  or consolidation submitted to the cemetery
board shall include the following:
(i) a description of the financial assets of each constituent cemetery
corporation demonstrating that the surviving  or  consolidated  cemetery
will  have  sufficient  financial  resources  to  operate  all locations
subsequent to merger or consolidation;
(ii) a proposal for management of financial assets of the surviving or
consolidated cemetery,  including  management  of  trust  funds  of  the
constituent cemeteries;
(iii)  a  proposal  for  maintenance,  storage and availability of all
corporate and cemetery records of the surviving or consolidated cemetery
including procedures for physical or remote access to  such  records  by
persons entitled to access;
(iv)  a  proposal  for  maintenance,  storage  and availability of all
corporate and cemetery records relating to the  constituent  cemeteries,
including  procedures  for  physical or remote access to such records by
persons entitled to access;
(v) a plan for maintenance  and  operation  of  all  locations  in  an
equitable manner;
(vi)  an  agreement  that  contact  information  for  the surviving or
consolidated cemetery will be posted at the entrance to each location of
the surviving or consolidated cemetery and on any website maintained  by
it;
(vii)  a  proposal  for  the  conduct  of annual and special lot owner
meetings that permits lot owners who were lot owners  of  a  constituent
cemetery  to  attend, actively participate in, and vote at such meetings
remotely; and
(viii) a proposal for providing notice to  lot  owners  who  were  lot
owners  of  a  constituent  cemetery  of the place, date and hour of the
annual and any special lot owner meetings in compliance with section six
hundred five of this chapter, and that also provides for: notice  to  be
published in a newspaper located in each county in which any constituent
cemetery  was  located,  and  notice  to  be  prominently  posted on the

homepage of any website maintained  by  the  surviving  or  consolidated
cemetery.
(b)  In  addition to the requirements of section nine hundred three of
this chapter, lot owner approval of the plan of merger or  consolidation
must meet these requirements:
(1)  Notice  of  the  meeting  to lot owners by a constituent cemetery
corporation that will not be a surviving cemetery corporation may not be
served by publication, unless the constituent cemetery demonstrates that
notice by means other than publication would cause undue hardship;
(2) Additional notice of the meeting shall be conspicuously posted  at
the  cemetery at least sixty days prior to the meeting and shall provide
the name, telephone number and address of a person from whom a  copy  of
the plan of merger or consolidation may be obtained; and
(3) Additional notice of the meeting, along with the plan of merger or
consolidation  or an outline of the material features of the plan, shall
be conspicuously posted, by each constituent corporation, on any website
it maintains or through which it conducts business.
(c) The  cemetery  board  may  adopt  rules  and  regulations  as  are
necessary to carry out the purposes and provisions of this section.