The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 18 : Health

Chapter 121 : Cemeteries

Subchapter 002 : TOWN CEMETERIES

• § 5384. Payment to treasurer; record; investment

  (a) Unless otherwise directed by the donor, all monies received by a town for cemetery purposes shall be paid to the town treasurer, who shall give a receipt for monies received, which shall be recorded in the office of the town clerk in a book kept for that purpose. The book shall also state the amount received from each donor, the time when, and the specific purpose for which it is appropriated.

  (b)(1) All monies so received by the town may be invested and reinvested by the treasurer, with the approval of the selectboard, by deposit in:

  (A) certificates of deposit and other evidences of deposit at Vermont, national, or federal chartered banks, and savings and loan associations that are guaranteed or insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or its successor;

  (B) obligations of the United States, its agencies, and instrumentalities, which have a liquid market with readily determinable market value;

  (C) investment-grade obligations of state or local governments, instrumentalities, and public authorities; and

  (D) the shares of an investment company or an investment trust, such as a mutual fund, closed-end fund, or unit investment trust, that is registered under the federal Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, if such fund has been in operation for at least five years and has net assets of at least $100,000,000.00.

  (2)(A) However, in a town that elects trustees of public funds, cemetery funds shall be invested by the trustees in any of the securities enumerated in this section, and the income thereof paid to the proper officers as the same falls due.

  (B) Investment income shall be expended for the purpose and in the manner designated by the donor. The provisions of this section as to future investments shall not require the liquidation or disposition of securities legally acquired and held.

  (3) The treasurer, selectboard, or trustees of public funds may delegate management and investment of town cemetery funds to the extent that it is prudent under the terms of the trust or endowment, and in accordance with section 3415 (delegation of management and investment functions) of the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act, 14 V.S.A. chapter 120. Notwithstanding the limitations on investments set forth in this subsection, an agent exercising a delegated management or investment function, if investing, shall invest cemetery funds in a publicly traded security that is:

  (A) registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 78l and listed on a national securities exchange;

  (B) issued by an investment company registered pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 80a-8;

  (C) a corporate bond registered as an offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 78l and issued by an entity whose stock is a publicly traded security;

  (D) a municipal security;

  (E) a deposit in federally insured financial institutions as defined in 8 V.S.A. § 11101(32); or

  (F) a security issued, insured, or guaranteed by the United States.

  (4) If the municipality has adopted an investment policy, the treasurer, selectboard, or trustees of public funds shall invest in accordance with the provisions of the municipal policy that do not conflict with this section. (Amended 2017, No. 26, § 1; 2017, No. 123 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. May 3, 2018; 2021, No. 84 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. July 1, 2022; 2023, No. 6, § 178, eff. July 1, 2023.)