Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Cemetery District Divestiture topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Tulare County to return Tulare Public Cemetery District to independent trustees; ad hoc committee named
Summary
The Board of Supervisors voted March 31 to begin a 60-day process to divest itself of authority over the Tulare Public Cemetery District after reporting administrative improvements; it also appointed an ad hoc committee to review trustee applications.
The Tulare County Board of Supervisors on March 31 voted unanimously to start a 60-day process to divest the board of its authority as trustees of the Tulare Public Cemetery District and to return governance to an independent board.
County Administrative Officer Jason Britt told supervisors that since the board assumed governance of the cemetery district on July 1, 2025 the district has made "substantial progress," including strengthened administrative oversight, moving bookkeeping and payroll to the County Auditor's Office, implementing safety and administrative policies to maintain insurance coverage, and hiring a district manager. Britt said the county's goal in assuming oversight was to stabilize and professionalize operations so the district could resume independent governance.
"The direction of this board when we first took over the Tulare Public Cemetery District was to work with it to get it to a place where it could walk on its own," Britt said. Supervisor Pete Vanderpool and others thanked county staff for the turnaround and supported returning authority to trustees once recruitment and vetting were complete.
The board voted 5-0 to adopt the resolution of intent to divest and initiate the required 60-day process to seat a new, independent cemetery board. Following that vote the board also established an ad hoc committee to review trustee applications and appointed Supervisors Vanderpool and McCauley to serve on the panel; the committee will work with staff to recruit, vet, and recommend trustee appointments to the full board. The county estimated a new board could be seated and hold its first meeting by May 12 if the timeline is met.
Supervisors said the return to an independent board reflects progress made by county staff and the district and expressed confidence the cemetery district can operate successfully under local trustees. The motions to adopt the divestiture intent and to form the ad hoc review committee both passed unanimously.
