With House Bill 1730 passing, municipalities are exempt from registering as a cemetery company when taking ownership of cemeteries.
Plumstead Township has taken care of some very old business.
Supervisors voted unanimously earlier this month to convey the deed of ownership for Plumsteadville Cemetery on Kellers Church Road from Doylestown Presbyterian Church to the township.
The conveyance comes in the wake of the passage of House Bill 1730 by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, which eases restrictions on municipalities who take ownership of cemeteries, namely exempting them from registering as a cemetery company.
Otherwise, according to township Solicitor Jonathan Reiss, the township would need to apply for a license to operate the cemetery and post a $75,000 bond. The antiquated law, he said, dates to 1960, when the township was ordered to take over and maintain the cemetery.
“I am in communication with the attorney for Doylestown Presbyterian Church, which was one time Plumstead Presbyterian Church,” said Reiss. “I recommend the township obtain title insurance for a $30,000 policy.”
Reiss said he is waiting for the church to sign off on everything.
“A number of years ago, they said they would be willing to sign off on the deed of transfer of ownership to the township,” he said. “Once that happens, the one thing left is, back in 1960, when the court entered an order for the township to take over maintenance of the cemetery, it couldn’t spend more than $100 a year doing that.”
Reiss said that order has been petitioned to the court to be stricken from record, allowing the township to operate the cemetery as it sees fit once it receives the deed.
“This goes back a very long way,” said township Manager Stacey Mulholland. “A lot of work was done with the Bucks County Association of Township Officials and partnering with the Pennsylvania Legislative Local Government Commission. It’s nice to have an opportunity to work together; it was bicameral and bipartisan, and it is nice to see the Legislature work together to pass this.”
“It has a lot of meaning to a lot of small municipalities in Pennsylvania who find themselves in this situation,” she said.
Reiss said the township has records that show where plots exist and which plots are empty at the cemetery.
“I’m not aware of any existing deeds that anyone can claim ownership of them,” he said. “No one came forward in my 23 years of being township solicitor that they own a deed and wany to buy someone there.”
Reiss said the township has diagrams from Public Works to establish which burial plots remain available.
House Bill 1730 passed unanimously 201-0 in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, sponsored by Bucks County District 29 Rep. Tim Brennan. He said the fate of cemeteries is the first question community members ask when a local church closes its doors.
“Pennsylvania law considers municipalities to be the actors-of-last resort in this situation and requires them to take control of and maintain neglected or abandoned cemeteries. But when municipalities do take ownership, current law also requires them to register as cemetery companies with the State Real Estate Commission. Registration as a cemetery company is intended for private, for-profit companies who sell burial plots to the public, not local governments,” Brennan said, when the bill was proposed in September 2023. “That is why I am introducing legislation that will amend the Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act to exempt municipalities from registering as a cemetery company. The law already provides exceptions for religious congregations, fraternal and non-profit organizations, and I believe municipalities ought to be included as well.”
Brennan said communities need a guarantee that families can visit well-maintained cemeteries while easing incumbering restrictions on local governments who are required to step up in these situations.
The bill amended the Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act to add municipalities to approved exclusions to the act. Its old language only allowed exclusions for “a bona fide church or religious congregation or fraternal organization or by any association created by a bona fide church or religious organization or by a fraternal organization.”
The PA Senate Local Government Committee approved the amendment 11-0 in June. According to the PA General Assembly, it has not yet been signed into law by Gov. Josh Shapiro.
