17-938.

Cemetery; maintenance; tax; forfeiture of lot; resale; reclamation of lot; procedure.

(1) The mayor and city council or the village board of trustees of a city of the second class or village are hereby empowered to levy a tax not to exceed five and two-tenths cents on each one hundred dollars upon the taxable value of all taxable property in such city or village for any one year for improving, adorning, protecting, and caring for a cemetery as provided in section 17-926.

(2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, all certificates to any lot or lots upon which no interments have been made and which have been sold for burial purposes under the provisions of section 17-941 may be declared forfeited and subject to resale if, for more than three consecutive years, all charges and liens as provided under sections 17-926 to 17-947 or by any of the rules, regulations, or bylaws of the association are not promptly paid by the holders of such certificates. All certificates to any lot or lots sold shall contain a forfeiture clause to the effect that if no interment has been made on the lot or lots and all liens and charges have not been paid as provided in this subsection, by ordinance, or in the bylaws of the association, such certificate and the rights under the same may, at the option of the cemetery board, with the approval of the mayor and city council or of the chairperson and village board of trustees, be declared null and void and the lot or lots shall be subject to resale as in the first instance.

(3)(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b) of this subsection, when any lot has been transferred by warranty deed or by a deed conveying a fee simple title, but there has been no burial in any such lot or subdivision thereof and no payment of annual assessments for a period of three years, the cemetery board, with the approval of the mayor and city council or of the chairperson and village board of trustees, may reclaim the unused portion of such lot or subdivision after notifying the record owner or his or her heirs or assigns, if known, by certified mail and publishing notice of its intention to do so. Such notice shall be published once each week for four weeks in a legal newspaper in or of general circulation throughout the county in which the cemetery is located, shall describe the lot or subdivision proposed to be reclaimed, and shall be addressed to the person in whose name such portion stands of record or, if there is no owner of record, to all persons claiming any interest in such lot or subdivision. If no person appears to claim such lot or subdivision and pay all delinquent assessments with interest within fifteen days after the last date of such publication, the cemetery board may by resolution reclaim such lot or subdivision. Such reclamation shall be complete upon a filing of a verified copy of such resolution, together with proof of publication, in the office of the register of deeds.

(b) A city of the second class or village that has not levied a tax pursuant to subsection (1) of this section within the preceding five calendar years of a proposed forfeiture, shall, for purposes of forfeiture, reclamation, or reinvestment of a cemetery lot, be governed by section 12-701.