SECTION 26.1. What Fees Must I Pay to Operate a Perpetual Care Cemetery?

(a) Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in this section, will have the following meanings, unless the text clearly indicates otherwise.

(1) "Act" means Health and Safety Code, Chapter 712, as amended.

(2) "Examination" means the department's review and evaluation of the books and records of a perpetual care cemetery corporation by on-site examination or off-site review pursuant to §712.044(a) of the Act.

(3) "You," "Your," or "I" means the owner or operator of a perpetual care cemetery.

(4) "Fund balance" means the total amount of perpetual care monies that are required to be deposited in your perpetual care fund under the Act, excluding capital gains, capital losses, undistributed interest income and any voluntary contributions.

(5) "Fiscal year" means the 12-month period from September 1st to August 31st.

(6) "Certificate of authority" means a certificate issued by the department to operate a perpetual care cemetery, which remains in effect until it is revoked by a district court or the department or surrendered by the certificate holder.

(7) "GDPIPD factor" means the annual factor that is equal to the percentage change in the Gross Domestic Product Implicit Price Deflator index values published quarterly by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, United States Department of Commerce for the first quarter of the current year compared to the first quarter of the previous year (the March-to-March period immediately preceding the calculation date), rounded to a hundredth of a percent (two decimal places).

(8) "Department" means the Texas Department of Banking.

(b) If I want to operate a perpetual care cemetery, what fees must I pay to the department?

(1) A filing fee of $500 must be paid with your application for a certificate of authority to operate a perpetual care cemetery as required by §712.0033(a) of the Act.

(2) If the department does not receive your completed annual report by the due date, a late fee of $100 per day for each business day after the due date that the department does not receive your completed annual report may be imposed. You must pay this fee immediately upon receipt of the department's written invoice.

(3) An annual assessment will be imposed as an examination fee on a perpetual care cemetery corporation to defray the cost of administering the Act, as required by §712.042 and §712.044(b) of the Act. The annual assessment will be collected pursuant to 7 TAC §26.1(c)(1). The amount of your annual assessment is based on your fund balance as reflected on the statement of funds in the most recent annual report you have filed with the department. You must pay the annual assessment specified in the following table:

Attached Graphic

(4) If you are a new certificate holder and have not yet filed your first annual report, which includes the statement of funds required by §712.041 of the Act, you must pay an examination fee of $75.00 per hour for each examiner and all associated travel expenses. Your subsequent annual assessments will be calculated in accordance with paragraph (3) of this subsection.

(c) How will the department bill me for the annual assessment and by when must I pay it?

(1) Your annual assessment may be billed in quarterly or fewer installments each fiscal year. You must pay a billed installment by ACH debit 15 days after the date of the department's notice of payment due. The commissioner may decrease your annual assessment if it is determined that a lesser amount than would otherwise be collected is adequate to administer the Act.

(2) The annual assessment is considered paid as of the date the department receives payment.

(d) Adjustments for inflation or deflation.

(1) Beginning September 1, 2020, and each September 1 thereafter, the table in subsection (b) of this section, as most recently revised before such date pursuant to this subsection, may be revised as follows:

(A) The base assessment amount listed in column three of the table may be increased or decreased by an amount proportionate to the measure of inflation or deflation reflected in the annual GDPIPD factor, rounded to whole dollars; and

(B) Each factor listed in column three of the table may be increased or decreased by an amount proportionate to the measure of inflation or deflation reflected in the annual GDPIPD factor, rounded to four decimal places for fund balances not over $499,999.99 and five decimal places for fund balances of $500,000.00 or more.

(2) If the table in subsection (b) of this section is revised for inflation or deflation, then not later than August 1 of each year, the department shall calculate and prepare a revised table reflecting the inflation-adjusted values to be applied effective the following September 1 and will provide each certificate holder with notice of and access to the revised table.

(e) Must I pay for additional examinations and if so, how much and when?

(1) If more than one examination is required in the same fiscal year as a result of your failure to comply with the Act, this chapter, or a request by the department, for each additional examination you must pay a fee for each assigned examiner of $75 per hour and reimburse the department for all associated travel expenses.

(2) You will be billed for an additional examination by written invoice submitted in connection with delivery of the examination report. You must pay this fee upon receipt of the examination report.

(f) Are any fees refundable? Fees paid under this section are nonrefundable.

(g) What will happen if a fee is deemed unlawful or in excess of the department's authority? If a fee or reimbursement imposed or required by this section or the manner of its calculation is determined to be unlawful or to exceed the department's authority to adopt and impose, the remainder of the section is unaffected.

Source Note: The provisions of this §26.1 adopted to be effective March 6, 2003, 28 TexReg 1836; amended to be effective January 6, 2005, 29 TexReg 12164; amended to be effective November 8, 2007, 32 TexReg 7905; amended to be effective May 5, 2011, 36 TexReg 2723; amended to be effective November 10, 2011, 36 TexReg 7506; amended to be effective September 8, 2019, 44 TexReg 4709; amended to be effective January 8, 2023, 47 TexReg 8981