This is a Strange Story

The Capitol of the State of Michigan

I recently read an article that came to me from WZZM 13 News in Michigan.  The story surrounds the Michigan Strategic Fund and its June 26 decision to give preliminary approval of a $26.5 million bond issue to a non-profit group called Cathedral of St. Augustine’s to purchase 28 cemeteries in Michigan.  You can read the story here.

What makes the story interesting is that the owner of the group of cemeteries, Midwest Memorial Group (MMG), a subsidiary of Toronto based public death care company, Park Lawn Corporation, states that the cemeteries are not for sale.  Jim Price, Chairman of MMG, is quoted in the article as saying, “There’s been no contact whatsoever with these folks”.

Again, according to the article, no one from the Cathedral of St. Augustine’s would give an interview or answer questions. According to documents from the Internal Revenue Service the Cathedral of St. Augustine’s is an affiliate of the non-profit St. Augustine’s National Foundation.  According to their financial statement as stated in the article, St. Augustine’s National Foundation would rank among the largest non-profits in metro Detroit with $126.4 million in net assets.

The Michigan Strategic Fund can assist non-profits by issuing tax-exempt private activity bonds on their behalf to help finance organizations’ projects – in essence making the debt costs less for non-profits.  There would be no “State of Michigan” money in the project.  According to the WZZM article, the June 26 vote was the first in the procedural process for the bond issue.  Again, according to the article, the Cathedral of St. Augustine’s made an attempt to purchase the cemeteries prior to the purchase by Park Lawn Corporation – which was done in 2016.

Funeral Director Daily take:  This article conjures up the old saying, “Does the right hand know what the left hand is doing?”  While things more peculiar than this have probably happened, you have to wonder if the State of Michigan knows that the cemeteries are not for sale before spending their valuable time in the bond issue process for the Cathedral of St. Augustine’s.

The article also delves into the history of some of these cemeteries which had some dubious owners.  According to the article, one previous owner, was arrested and plead guilty to 39 felony counts of embezzling more than $60 million for the cemeteries trust funds.

In any event, the article is a good commentary on what can go wrong with cemetery ownership.

Finally, from my point of view, I view Park Lawn Corporation as a death care consolidator who, as Chairman Price mentions above, has no intentions of liquidating some of the assets they have accumulated in the business.  I’m anxiously awaiting the next chapter in this saga.

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