[HistoricCemeterieslistserv] Death Filing Fee Increase Becomes Effective on January 1, 2022

[GILL Kuri * OPRD]

To Oregon Mortuary & Cemetery Board Interested Persons:

I hope that you are all having a wonderful holiday season.

As I shared in early November 2021, HB 2120 <https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2021R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB2120/Enrolled> was signed by Governor Brown on June 23, 2021 and becomes effective on January 1, 2022. This bill will increase the death filing fee from $20 to $30 and the additional $10 will be allocated entirely to the Indigent Disposition Program (IDP) Fund, which will ensure that the IDP Fund remains sustainable at least through 2026. Additionally, the Board will continue to review the current financial condition of the IDP Fund on a regular basis and make appropriate adjustments/recommendations, if necessary.

Therefore, all licensed facilities who make arrangements and collect the $20 death filing fee will need to begin collecting the $30 death filing fee for all deaths occurring on or after January 1, 2022.

For those who are unaware, the purpose of the IDP Fund is to provide funeral establishments and immediate disposition companies with reimbursement for costs incurred while providing services for the disposition of indigent decedents. The IDP Fund has been in existence since the Oregon State Legislature assigned responsibility for reimbursement to the Health Division in 1993. Prior to that legislation, the applicable county was responsible for the costs associated with an indigent’s disposition – according to ORS 146<https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors146.html>, in certain circumstances, counties are still responsible for paying the expenses of unclaimed decedents. In 2015, the Oregon Legislature reworked the requirements of the program, moving management to the Oregon Mortuary & Cemetery Board (OMCB) and amending the required process that a funeral establishment or immediate disposition company must complete before cremating or burying an indigent decedent. These changes went into effect on January 1, 2016.

As a reminder, ORS 97.170(1)<https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors097.html> defines “Indigent person” as:

… a deceased person who does not have a death or final expense benefit or insurance policy that pays for disposition of the deceased person’s body or other means to pay for disposition of the deceased person’s body and:

(a) Who does not have a relative or other person with the legal right to direct and the means to pay for disposition of the deceased person’s body;

(b) Whose relative, or other person, with the legal right to direct the disposition of the deceased person’s body does not pay or arrange to pay for, or refuses to direct, the disposition of the deceased person’s body within 10 days of being notified of the death; or

(c) For whom no person other than a person described in paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection wishes to direct and pay for the disposition of the deceased person’s body.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Thank you & have a great New Year’s Eve celebration. 😊

Chad

Chad Dresselhaus
Executive Director
Proud Veteran of the United States Navy [cid:image001.jpg at 01D7FBD9.33DD11C0]

Oregon Mortuary & Cemetery Board (OMCB)
800 NE Oregon Street, Suite 430
Portland, OR 97232
Direct Line: (971) 673-1502 | Fax: (971) 673-1501
Email: Chad.W.Dresselhaus at omcb.oregon.gov<mailto:Chad.W.Dresselhaus at omcb.oregon.gov>
**Please note the new email address**
Website: https://www.oregon.gov/omcb/Pages/default.aspx

The mission of the Board is to protect public health, safety and welfare by fairly and efficiently performing its licensing, inspection and enforcement duties; by promoting professional behavior and standards in all facets of the Oregon death care industry; and, by maintaining constructive relationships with licensees, those they serve and others with an interest in the Board's activities.  In order to protect the public, it is the Board's responsibility to insure that all of Oregon's death care facilities are properly licensed.  The Board is self-supporting and derives its financing from licensing, examination, and a portion of the death certificate filing fee (not the fees derived from the purchase of a certified copy of a death certificate).


[New Picture (1)]

Kuri Gill (she, her, hers) |  Oregon Heritage Grants & Outreach Coordinator
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Oregon Heritage, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries
Desk:  (503)986-0685 cell: (503)383-6787
725 Summer St NE, Ste C
Salem, Oregon 97301

Visit our website<http://www.oregonheritage.org/>, Like us on Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/OregonHeritage>, Visit our Blog<http://oregonheritage.wordpress.com/>, Join the Oregon Heritage News e-news<https://omls.oregon.gov/mailman/listinfo/Heritage>.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/historiccemeteries/attachments/20211228/7355bf97/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 2651 bytes
Desc: image001.jpg
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/historiccemeteries/attachments/20211228/7355bf97/attachment.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 10888 bytes
Desc: image002.png
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/historiccemeteries/attachments/20211228/7355bf97/attachment.png>