DATE: December 3, 2024
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Nathan Magsig, Supervisor, District 5
Paul Nerland, County Administrative Officer
SUBJECT: Receive Recommendation regarding the Dunlap Cemetery District
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Direct staff to continue to work with the Dunlap Cemetery District to find two volunteers for the district’s Board of Trustees until June 30, 2025, and if no qualified volunteers are found, Direct staff to bring back to the Board of Supervisors a different recommendation by August 5, 2025.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action will receive the recommendation of and provide direction to staff to continue working with the Dunlap Cemetery District residents to find two qualified volunteers for the Dunlap Cemetery District Board of Trustees (District Board). This item pertains to a location within District 5.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Your Board may choose not to accept staff’s recommendation and provide alternative direction to staff for the County of Fresno’s response and actions to the situation at the District.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase to Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions.
DISCUSSION:
The District is an independent district governed by a Board of Trustees (District Board) that are appointed by the Fresno County Board Supervisor representing District 5. The District Board for has a total of three (3) trustee seats appointed to four-year terms. The District is located in the eastern portion of the County of Fresno. The infrastructure of the District consists of one three-acre cemetery facility that contains one low-maintenance building. The District’s boundaries are rather complex and encompass the Dunlap area, within the upper portion of the Sierra Nevada foothills. According to the last Municipal Service Review (MSR) done by the Fresno Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) in 2017, the District service area consists of an estimated 1,654 population.
The District has operated as a public cemetery since 1941. Prior to 1941, the Dunlap Cemetery operated as a private cemetery since its creation in the late 1800s. In the aforementioned MSR, a financial deficit is highlighted which was identified by the Auditor’s Office. According to the MSR the District was collecting insufficient annual revenues to cover annual operational expenses. The District had no paid staff and worked only with volunteers, which mostly consisted of the three District Board trustees. During the time that the MSR was drafted the District Board consisted of three (3) board trustees.
In October of 2023, the three (3) board trustees resigned leaving the District with no active District Board. Since that time, District 5 has actively sought volunteers for the District Board. There was one application for the District Board submitted to the Clerk to the Board in late August, however, the applicant did not meet qualifications.
Since the resignation of all Board Trustees, the County has received invoices for services to the District. Until there is an active District Board, under current conditions, the invoices cannot be paid. In July 2024, the County had to locate a cemetery district who would service a family to bury a deceased family member who had already prepaid for a cemetery plot.
On October 8, 2024, the Office of the Clerk to the Board of Supervisors received an application for the District Board from a qualified applicant who was officially appointed by your Board on November 5, 2024, leaving two seats to fill.
On November 26, 2024, staff held a community meeting with District residents to discuss the state of the District. During that meeting community feedback was received and considered in staff’s recommendation.
The recommended action is that your Board direct staff to continue to work with the residents of the District to find two qualified volunteers and continue these efforts until June 30, 2025. In addition, if staff are not able to identify two additional qualified District Board members, the recommended action is that your Board direct staff to bring back a different recommendation by August 5, 2025.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
LAFCo - Municipal Service Review for Dunlap Cemetery District
CAO ANALYST:
Amina Flores-Becker