Committee backs lowering perpetual‑care set‑aside to ease cemetery maintenance costs

The House Political Subdivisions Committee recommended a do‑pass for House Bill 1219 after hearing that some perpetual‑care cemetery associations face shrinking volunteer capacity and rising maintenance costs.

Representative Alisa Mitzgog presented the bill on behalf of Fairview Cemetery Association in Wahpeton. The bill would reduce the mandatory portion of lot‑sale proceeds that a perpetual‑care cemetery must place in its endowed care fund from 20% to 10%. Under current law, only the interest generated by the perpetual‑care fund may be used for maintenance; principal is generally held in trust and is accessible only in limited circumstances by court order.

Mitzgog told the committee Fairview Cemetery has roughly $100,000 in its perpetual‑care fund but that the association relies heavily on volunteers and now needs to hire part‑time help. Reducing the set‑aside to 10% of future lot sales, she said, would free up immediate cash for upkeep without eliminating an endowment.

Assistant Attorney General Lisonbee Hicks explained the legal framework for perpetual‑care funds: they are set up as trusts under chapter 23 and courts enforce protections that make dissolving or accessing principal a complex process. "You can't just do it for any old reason," Hicks said, adding that the trust structure is meant to prevent easy depletion of funds that are intended to preserve cemeteries for the long term.

Committee members asked whether the bill creates only a floor or also would preclude additional voluntary contributions; Mitzgog confirmed the measure would lower the mandatory minimum and organizations could still set aside more. Representative Haddlestead moved a do‑pass recommendation; Representative Polinski seconded. The committee voted 12 yea, 0 nay, 1 absent, not voting, and members placed the bill on the consent calendar.