LOWER LAKE >> The Lake County Board of Supervisors plans to consider a letter to Sacramento at its regular meeting today that requests financial assistance for the struggling Lower Lake Cemetery District.
According to the board of trustee’s chair Iris Hudson, the historic cemetery has suffered financial problems for years due to a decrease in burials. Because of this, it can only afford one employee and is forced to keep old equipment to provide services.
“We didn’t have a single month where our revenues exceeded our expenses,” Hudson said about the 2015-2016 fiscal year. “If we don’t get burials, then there is no money coming in.”
Another part of the problem is the low property tax revenues — about $53,000 annually — it receives from the area. Those are locked in due to Proposition 13, she said, which holds property tax rates permanently at one percent and doesn’t allow inflation to account for valuation.
“It can never change apparently,” Hudson added. “We’ve tried every way we can to get it changed.”
The apportionment also creates problems due to its payout only occurring in April and December. This means the county has to borrow money from the county in order to pay its bills.
In order to change the district’s situation, the BOS’s letter to Assemblyman Bill Dodd is asking the state to help them find a more constant source of income. However, ideas haven’t been discussed.
In the meantime, District 3 Supervisor Jim Steele and the board of trustees are trying to find donations.
“It’s not a permanent funding approach,” he said.
So far, though, they haven’t made much of a dent — bringing in a little more $3,000 recently thanks to a handful of donors.
Further efforts, like the GoFundMe campaign this spring, have failed. According to Hudson, the crowdsourcing idea was shut down and postponed due to an unauthorized person operating the donation page. Although the person collected only $100, the mishap was shared via community Facebook pages and thus “put a cloud” on the campaign.
Another delay for fundraising occurred because of the Clayton Fire in Lower Lake.
“It didn’t seem like the appropriate time for it,” Hudson added, saying the board of trustees considered a summer time event.
The fire also has the potential to make things worse since it destroyed 300 structures therefore affecting the value of the properties.
“We just don’t know yet,” she said when asked about the fire’s implications. “Anything they take away from us hurts.”
But despite these negatives, the 160-year-old cemetery may not be closing its doors any time soon if the situation doesn’t change. In fact, Hudson says the matter would go before the Local Area Formation Committee for possible county control.
Yet, due to the county’s own financial woes Steele doesn’t see that happening in the near future.
“I don’t think the county has the budget with all the disasters before it,” he said. “We’ll have to see down the road.”
The meeting begins at 9 a.m. at the Lake County Courthouse. The cemetery did report small profits in the first quarter of this fiscal year thanks to an increase in burials.
