Although the image of an angry woman, denoted as a "Karen," demanding to speak to the manager has become a comic meme, frankly sometimes in real life you must speak to the manager. T.C. Broadnax became the City Manager of Austin in May of this year. According to an article in the November 23, 2024, edition of the “Austin-American Statesman,” the Austin City Council has passed a resolution directing Broadnax to look into new ways to pay to maintain Austin's city parks. In the article, Broadnax is quoted as stating that he is open to the idea of raising additional funds for the parks. When it comes to raising funds to maintain one aspect of PARD's jurisdiction, Austin public cemeteries, Broadnax doesn't have to look for a new funding program, because there is one that has been in place since 1992, and already has over $1 million dollars sitting in it--the Austin Perpetual Care Trust Fund. On November 24, 2024, I sent the following email to Broadnax:
To City Manager T.C. Broadnax,
In the November 23, 2024, edition of the “Austin-American Statesman,” there was an article entitled “City Council looking into user fee,” reporting that the Austin City Council has approved a resolution proposed by Council Member Leslie Pool directing you, as City Manager, to examine ways to pay for the maintenance of the City of Austin (City) parks. Austin's cemeteries currently come under the jurisdiction of the Parks and Recreation Department (PARD). The City, back in 1992, created a way to generate additional funds for the maintenance of the City’s public cemeteries, establishing the Austin Perpetual Care Trust Fund. (APCTF). Although there is currently over one million dollars in this fund, PARD, in violation of both state law and City ordinances, has failed to implement the APCTF.
Requiring PARD to finally implement the APCTF and to operate it in an open and transparent manner could provide significant additional funds for maintenance of the public cemeteries. I discuss this issue, and the illegal actions by PARD in violation of both state law and city ordinances, in detail on my blog, Protect Austin Cemeteries from PARD (https://saveaustinscemeteries.blogspot.com/2022/09/protect-austins-cemeteries-from-pard.html), specifically on the pages entitled “Grave Robbery” (https://saveaustinscemeteries.blogspot.com/p/grave-robbery.html) and “The Great Grave Robbery Keeps Chugging Along” (https://saveaustinscemeteries.blogspot.com/p/the-great-grave-robbery-keeps-chugging.html). However, to summarize, under Section 713.002 (Local Trust for Cemetery), Texas Health and Safety Code, a municipality that operates a cemetery may act as a permanent trustee for the perpetual maintenance of the lots and graves in that cemetery. Section 713.003 (Local Authority to Receive Gifts; Deposits for Care; Certificates) authorizes the municipality to receive gifts or grants for the maintenance of a designated grave or burial lot and, under Section 713.004 (Use of Funds), to invest the funds received in interest-bearing bonds or governmental securities. The municipality must apply income or revenue of the fund for the maintenance and care of the burial place for which the funds are donated, but any excess may be used to beautify the entire cemetery.
The City has implemented such a trust. As of 1992, Section 10-1-11 of the Austin Code of Ordinances (Code) establishes the APCTF to: assure the perpetual maintenance of the city cemeteries; invest and reinvest money in trust accounts in the trust fund; and apply the income earned by the APCTF that is in excess of the amount necessary to maintain the individual cemetery lots or graves to the beautification of the city cemeteries generally. Sections 10-1-12 through Section 10-1-20 set out the rules regarding the implementation and operation of the APCTF. Existing perpetual care funds already held by the city were transferred to APCTF.
Despite the fact that the APCTF has been part of the City Code for some 30 years, PARD has utterly failed to comply with the Code and is illegally preventing citizens from contributing to the APCTF in violation of both the Code and state law. PARD has also spent over two million dollars in income from the APCTF, but there is no accounting as to what the funds were used for and no evidence that the expenditures were to maintain specific gravesites, the only expenditures permitted under both state and local law. Further, even though under both state and local law the APCTF is supposed to be invested in "interest-bearing bonds or governmental securities,” there has been no reported revenue from 2016 through 2023, despite the fact that there is over one million dollars in the fund.
Since 2017, I have been fighting to have the APCTF implemented so that I can set up a grant for the perpetual care of my parents’ graves; my brother and sister-in-law have similarly been denied the right to set up a grant for the care of their daughter’s grave. Despite presentations to the City Council and the Parks and Recreations Board (Board), as well as complaints filed with the City Auditor, I have been stonewalled and ignored. In fact, the only action PARD has taken regarding the APCTF in those seven years was an underhanded attempt in 2022 to request the Board's permission to seek to amend state law to allow PARD to dissolve the APCTF and access the principle (there is a detailed timeline on my blog setting out my battles with PARD regarding its negligent and abusive operation of the Austin public cemeteries since 2013 entitled “Time After Time”: https://saveaustinscemeteries.blogspot.com/p/time-after-time-current-as-of-september.html).
Implementation of the APCTF as enacted by the City in 1992 in accordance with state and city law would finally allow families to contribute to the perpetual care of their loved ones' final resting places and could potentially raise hundreds of thousands of additional funds to maintain and beautify Austin's cemeteries. However, considering PARD's opaque and illegal handling of finds currently in the APCTF, implementation must include clear, open, and transparent accounting of funds donated to the APCTF, and the expenditure of any revenues (ideally, there should also be an intensive independent audit of the administration of the APCTF regarding all transactions, revenue, and expenditures since 1992).
I also must add that it is unfortunate that Austin's cemeteries currently come under the jurisdiction of PARD, as if they were nothing more than a soccer field or swimming pool, ignoring their special cultural, historic, and emotional significance. Originally, the management of the Austin public cemeteries was under the Public Works Department and was not transferred to PARD until around 1986. As set out in great detail in my blog, PARD treats the public cemeteries with utter disregard and disrespect (“Not-So-Benign Neglect”: https://saveaustinscemeteries.blogspot.com/p/not-so-benign-neglect.html; “Piling it High and Deep”: https://saveaustinscemeteries.blogspot.com/p/spreading-it-high-and-deep.html; “Demolition Derby”: https://saveaustinscemeteries.blogspot.com/p/demolition-derby.html; “Demolition Derby Part II”: https://saveaustinscemeteries.blogspot.com/p/demolition-derby-part-ii.html). PARD is more interested in ripping out beautiful and long-established grave ornamentation and gardens than actually maintaining and preserving these sacred sites, simply so that it can run its heavy machinery over graves, desecrating them with deep ruts and tire tracks. As I document on my blog, PARD is tearing out such items with little or no notice to the families who installed them (with the earlier implicit and even explicit consent of PARD), shows no concern for their emotional and historical significance (as well as often significant monetary value), and has no documentation regarding from where or when these items were removed and how they are ultimately disposed of: “Tomb Raiders:: https://saveaustinscemeteries.blogspot.com/p/tomb-raiders.html; “NapolePARD on the March”: https://saveaustinscemeteries.blogspot.com/p/napolepard-on-march.html; “Tomb Raiders Rampage On”: https://saveaustinscemeteries.blogspot.com/p/tomb-raiders-rampage-on.html; “Fallen Angels”: https://saveaustinscemeteries.blogspot.com/p/fallen-angels.html. Ideally, not only should the APCTF finally be implemented, Austin’s public cemeteries should be removed from PARD’s negligent and callous oversight.
I would most appreciate a response to this email. Thank you.
I am sending copies of this email to the City Council and Mayor's Office as well. I will update this page if and when I receive a response.
No comments:
Post a Comment