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Cemetery and Funeral Bureau posts 202428 strategic plan, flags retirements and budget pressure
Summary
The Cemetery and Funeral Bureau unveiled a completed 202428 strategic plan with five goals and a new mission, announced two long‑time staff retirements, and warned of tightening fund reserves as salary and benefit adjustments drive projected expenditures.
The Cemetery and Funeral Bureau on Oct. 23 presented its finalized 202428 strategic plan and announced upcoming staff retirements while reviewing the bureaus fund condition and near‑term budget pressures.
Bureau Chief Gina Sanchez read the plans mission to advisory committee members: "The cemetery and funeral bureau safeguards consumers by licensing and regulating the death care industry through policies and practices that protect the health, safety, and general welfare of Californians." She said the plan lays out five goals through 2028—licensing, enforcement, legislation and regulation, outreach and communication, and administration—and will be posted on the bureau website with outreach to stakeholders.
The announcement included personnel changes. Sanchez said legislative and regulatory analyst Carolina Sammons will retire in March after 37 years with state service, and investigator/inspector Steven Calk will retire at the end of the year after 22 years with the bureau. Sanchez thanked both employees for long service and said recruitment notices will be posted to fill the positions.
On finances, the bureau presented a fund snapshot labeled "pre-actuals" that showed roughly $6.6 million in revenue collected for the most recent closed year and projected about $6.8 million for the following year. Sanchez cautioned that projected expenditures include personal‑service adjustments—salary, pay‑scale, and retirement rate increases—and that the budget office models a 3% increase on future years. Those adjustments, she said, are a primary factor pushing the bureaus months in reserve downward; absent carryover or revenue increases the projection shows potential insolvency around 20262727, though prior-year carryover has repeatedly pushed that date outward.
Sanchez said the bureau historically spends conservatively and will continue close coordination with the Department of Consumer Affairs budget office and the bureaus budget analyst to monitor fund balances. She also told the committee the bureau has no large, known one‑time expenses at this time.
What happens next: Sanchez said the strategic plan will guide bureau work through 2028, outreach about the plan will follow, and recruitments for the two upcoming vacancies will be posted publicly. The advisory committee asked for regular agenda items tracking progress on plan objectives; Sanchez agreed to add updates so the committee and industry can see implementation milestones.
Sources: Remarks and slides presented to the CFB Advisory Committee on Oct. 23, 2024.
