By Robert Barron, Staff Writer
July 02, 2009 12:07 am
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The new president of Enid Cemetery Association is expressing concerns about how the cemetery is being operated.
Steve Kieffer says it is being improperly operated. Superintendent Nancy Rahm disagrees.
Kieffer, a retired attorney, was named to the board and elected president in March. He said he immediately began checking the laws on operation of an incorporated cemetery association. He found the cemetery’s 99-year incorporation expired in 1996, and the status is considered inactive and not in good standing by the Oklahoma Secretary of State’s Office.
The cemetery was established April 9, 1897, by 30 people who paid $10 each. Kieffer said he believes the “shareholders” of the cemetery are those who own lots today.
“You don’t have to be a corporation,” he said.
However, the cemetery has been acting as a non-corporate cemetery association since 1996, Kieffer said. He said he also noticed association officials have not had regular board meetings as required by law. They stopped having meetings for a period of time before resuming, he said.
Rahm has been superintendent since 1998 and said no one has ever said anything about the expiration of the corporate status, and they have had attorneys on the board periodically.
“That is something that, as superintendent, I knew nothing about. We had attorneys on the board, and they never sent us any paperwork to renew that,” Rahm said. “The first I heard about it was this year. We had no idea we had to do that. We thought the papers would be forever.”
Also, Kieffer said according to state law, the superintendent of the association is under the direction of the board of directors and his or her salary is fixed by the bylaws.
Kieffer also expressed concerns about whether the association has been following proper accounting procedures. He also said the association may not be using 50 percent of its income from sale of lots to pay debts as required by law.
The association apparently loaned money to an employee, which Kieffer said is not proper. Rahm said the money was loaned due to an emergency situation and is being repaid by withdrawals from the employee’s salary.
Another board member, Steve Cameron, who also is an attorney, said if the association starts complying with state law and uses income to pay debts, it will have little money on which to operate.
“That causes another problem. Families burying their family members there want a nice place to remember them when they go to visit the graves,” Kieffer said.
Kieffer e-mailed other board members of his findings. He said he is hopeful when the board meets July 7, people who understand what he thinks is a serious situation will be elected. In addition to Kieffer, board members are LeArta Watkins of Wichita, Kan.; Joy Robertson, of Enid; John Rus, of Enid; Brenda Schroeder, of Mis-souri; and Charlene Ritter, an inactive member because she cares for her ill sister.
Cameron said he shares some of Kieffer’s concerns.
Kieffer said he does not know what the cemetery association’s present status means for tax exemptions, meaning donations to the cemetery association may not be tax deductible.
“They should continue as a tax-exempt organization as long as they abide by the rules,” Kieffer said.
Cameron said a non-profit corporation is established to carry out a charitable, educational, religious, literary or scientific purpose and is not required to pay federal or state income tax, which is a primary benefit. Since the corporate status has expired, he said, there could be liability by officers and directors of the cemetery association.
Minutes from past meetings say annual meetings were held, but Kieffer said those were meetings of the board of directors with guests present. He said annual meetings must be meetings of shareholders during which new directors are elected. Bylaws cannot be amended by the board of directors, but must be done by shareholders. Shareholders are anyone who owns a lot, or mausoleum space in the cemetery, including descendants, he said.
Rahm said the association held shareholder meetings in March. Most of the time, she said, the board was made up primarily of farmers, who could not attend meetings in the summer.
“He’s digging at a lot of straws and making a lot of people unhappy,” she said of Kieffer.
Rahm said to her know-ledge all of the meetings are conducted properly. She is not an attorney and is unaware of anything being done wrong, she said.
She said Kieffer has not approached her about anything and she has only talked to him on a couple of occasions.
Cameron said he has only been a member of the board for a short time, and said he is not familiar with all of the aspects of Kieffer’s concerns, but generally agrees with them. Cameron said it also is his understanding the corporate status has expired. He said that could be a problem, and he said a number of things need to be remedied concerning the status of the board.
“A declaratory judgment could help us determine the spot we may be in,” he said. “Obviously it’s not a good thing they have let it lapse. It may be just getting with the secretary of state and reorganize. Nobody knows about any penalty.”
Kieffer said something needs to be done.
“I hate to air dirty laundry in the press, but the community has to step forward and get it back on the tracks and running toward the station. Whoever gets elected at the July meeting will have to get a declaratory judgment and go ahead with it,” he said.
“We’re all in fear of our jobs. We don’t know if we will be around or not,” Rahm said.
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