cemetery fined $ 1,000 by TDCI | Local news

GreeneLawn Memory Gardens, Inc. was recently fined $ 1,000 by the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance.

The cemetery at 4149 Asheville Highway was assessed the penalty on October 25 by the TDCI for:

• failing to make four deposits to the Improved Care Trust Fund as required by law;
• failing to make 17 deposits into the Improved Care Trust Fund within the time limits required by law;
• failing to make 18 deposits in the Goods and Services Trust Fund within the time limits required by law;
• failing to provide appropriate director certification prior to accepting Improvement Care Trust Fund distributions; and
• failing to file the Cemetery’s Company’s 2019 annual reports on the Improvement Care Trust Fund and the Goods and Services Trust.

All issues identified in the October disciplinary list released by the TDCI on Nov. 16 have been resolved and the civil fine has been paid, GreeneLawn chairman Matt Rice said last week.

The actions cited by the TDCI “were somewhat beyond our control” because a CPA employed by the cemetery to manage their books passed away suddenly, Rice said.

Another accounting firm had to be hired to perform financial functions for the company, creating a loophole in some documents, Rice said.

“Some got lost in the process,” he said. “This has been fixed and evolved. “

GreeneLawn was one of nine Tennessee companies listed in the burial services category that faced civil sanctions in October by the TDCI.

“It’s a standard thing for the state to audit (GreeneLawn) over a two-year period,” Rice said. “Every audit result was corrected immediately. “

GreeneLawn was founded in 1959 by the late Greeneville businessman RC Bird Jr.