Hi all,
Ok, here is the message I spoke of previously:
As you may or may not know, there is an Indiana law that is intended to
provide resources for the care and maintenance of Pioneer Cemeteries.
This law is Indiana Code, Title 23, Article 14, Chapter 26. A copy of
which follows:
IC 23-14-26-1 Sec. 1. This chapter applies to cemeteries that:
(1) are without funds or sources of funds for reasonable maintenance;
(2) have suffered neglect and deterioration; and
(3) may be the burial grounds for Indiana pioneer leaders as well as for
veterans of every American war including the Revolutionary War.
IC 23-14-26-2 Sec. 2. The board of commissioners of a county may appoint
a county cemetery commission of five (5) county residents. The
commission may request the levy of an annual tax not exceeding fifty
cents ($.50) on each one hundred dollars ($100) of assessed valuation of
property in the county for the purpose of restoring and maintaining
the cemeteries described in section 1 of this chapter that were
established in the county before 1850.
IC 23-14-26-3 Sec. 3. The county cemetery commission shall present an
annual plan and budget to the board of county commissioners and the
county council for approval and shall make an annual report to those
bodies.
IC 23-14-26-4 Sec. 4. County cemetery commission members shall be
appointed for a term of five (5) years, staggered by the board of county
commissioners to permit an appointment or a reappointment of one (1)
commission member per year.
This law is more like a suggestion. Please notice that in section 2, on
the first line, the word MAY. The use of this word means that while our
county commissioners have the authority to establish a cemetery
commission, it is entirely optional.
We need to mount a campaign to to have IC 23-14-26-2 amended to reflect
a change of the word "may" to "shall". Doing so will force the
creation
of a cemetery commission in all 92 counties of Indiana.
All that being said, here is what we are going to do: Each one of us is
going to visit the Indiana Representatives page I previously told you
of. Once there, we will find all the Reps for our county. Not just
your house district, the whole county. Then, we are going to send each
of them an email similar to the one included at the bottom of this
page. We aren't going to stop there either. We are going to send these
letters to every person we know whom we can talk into sending a copy to
a House Representative. Moms, Dads, Brothers, Sisters, Fred across the
street, Cousin George, it doesn't matter. Anyone with an e-mail address
or a snail mail address can send a letter.
This won't produce an instant result but at least our Reps should know
we care.
Something like the following should work. It doesn't have to be exactly
the same, as long as it conveys the same message.
Thanks gang. Lets make this work.
----------------------------------------------------------
Dear (repr),
My name is __________ and I am writing to tell you about a serious
problem in your House District of ______ County.
Have you ever noticed the little neglected cemeteries that sit atop
the hills and along the roads everywhere in Indiana? I'm sure you
have. How many times have you said to yourself. "What a shame. Someone
should clean that up" as you drive past?
Did you ever stop to think who is buried in those little cemeteries?
They are the pioneers of our state. The people who blazed the trails,
cleared the land, and built our towns and roads. These people gave up
so much to make the state of Indiana. Those pioneers laid their
children, wives, and husbands in these little cemeteries that most of us
so casually drive past day after day. We are so comfortable and take
our existence so much for granted that we are willing to let the last
remaining monuments to all their hard work fall to dust before our eyes.
There is something YOU can do to help correct this growing problem
before it is too late. I call your attention to IC 23-14-26 which is
entitled "Care of cemeteries by counties". Specifically section 2:
"The board of commissioners of a county may appoint a county
cemetery
commission of five (5) county residents. The commission may request
the levy
of an annual tax not exceeding fifty cents ($.50) on each one
hundred dollars
($100) of assessed valuation of property in the county for the
purpose of restoring
and maintaining the cemeteries described in section 1 of this
chapter that were
established in the county before 1850. "
As you can see, this section of the Indiana Code authorizes the
formation of County Cemetery Commissions to restore and maintain our old
cemeteries. It does not, however, require that the county commissioners
create such cemetery commissions. For this reason, with one or two
exceptions, no county has implemented a cemetery commission to restore
and maintain Pioneer Cemeteries.
Therefore, I am asking you, as my local representative please draft a
bill to amend IC 23-14-26 Section 2 as follows:
"The board of commissioners of a county shall appoint a county cemetery
commission of five (5) county residents. The commission may request the
levy of an annual tax not exceeding fifty cents ($.50) on each one
hundred dollars ($100) of assessed valuation of property in the county
for the purpose of restoring and maintaining the cemeteries described in
section 1 of this chapter that were established in the county before
1850."
If this amendment can be made, there is then a fighting chance to save
the remaining Pioneer Cemeteries that dot our Hoosier landscape.
Without it, we will loose this fragile part of our Hoosier heritage.
Sincerely yours,
_____________
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This Can't be my family tree, I'm a peach and its full of nuts!