The cost of getting buried is on the rise in Centre Wellington.
As the township recently approved new fees for the new year, one of them is a 79% increase for the sale of interment rights – full burial plots for both adult single and adult double.
Including taxes, the cost of the adult single plots is rising from $893 to $1,600 (79.1%).
Meanwhile the cost of a double lot is moving from $1,781 to $3,200 (79.7%).
Councillor Mary Lloyd had concerns with the 79% increase to the burial plot purchases.
Chief financial officer/treasurer Wes Snarr said “In the past we compared our fees to rural municipalities.”
This year, the change was made to compare those particular fees to urban areas such as Orangeville and Guelph.
“One of the things we’ve heard from council in the past, is that the fees and charges for the cemeteries were not covering operating costs.”
Snarr said money needs to be set aside for capital works.
“What this does is bring the level up to or close to the municipalities we compared to.” He noted that in the case of Orangeville, those fees and charges have been in place for three years and are to be reviewed this year. The ones in Guelph are reviewed annually, he said.
“In effect, we’ve been undercharging in the past.”
He said the change in Centre Wellington will allow a closing of the funding gap from the tax dollars for the cemeteries.
Councillor Kirk McElwain said he understood the intent of what was being done, “but an increase over 50% seems a little excessive.”
Meanwhile, he had issue with parks and recreation which has a 0% increase on virtually all user charges throughout the year.
“Just based on the cost of employees, utilities, etc., how can we sustain a 0% fee upgrade, when we already have an operational deficit.”
Snarr said in the case of the parks and recreation department, they requested to bring their new fees and charges forward early in the new year.
The effective date for the changes in those fees would be April 1 – the beginning of their business cycle. “They just requested more time.”
McElwain said in reference to the cemetery fees, “does it need to be done all at once.”
Snarr said “it is a good question.” However he added that sales of most cemetery plots happen in a time of need.
“We discussed this at a staff level, and if this was a fee that affected a large part of the population like dog tags, there might be a case for phasing it in.” But this, he said, affects a smaller group.
“I don’t think it is likely to impact the sales. I know it looks like a lot on paper, but we should be prepared to match the fees of the other municipalities.”
Mayor Ross-Zuj agreed the change has been a long time in coming.
“We have had a conversation with the ministerial association, and they have been very concerned about the condition of the cemeteries.”
Ross-Zuj compared it to other aspects of the municipality’s infrastructure.
“We always get complimented on how we keep the grounds very nice – but we have infrastructure deficiencies in our cemeteries that need to be addressed with big dollars.”
She said this fees came under review to find out if the fees were high or low.
Ross-Zuj said this will bring Centre Wellington up to where it’s neighbours are in terms of the work which will need to be done.
“That is the justification of that increase.”
Director of public works Ken Elder added that just on capital, the township spent $26,000 on a fence that had rusted out.
“We probably received at least 30 calls when we took the fence down.” He said there are capital costs coming in from both cemeteries. “Also, we’ve got land we’re going to have to acquire in the next five to ten years for a new cemetery in the Fergus area.”
Elder said “we used to compare ourselves to small rural municipalities who have a cleanup once a year.” He said if one compared their maintenance compared to what is done locally “it is hard to do.”
“This is something that is long overdue,” Elder said. He added that there is also the annual budgetary questions as to why cemeteries are running at a deficit for maintenance costs. “It should be at least break even.”
Council subsequently approved the revised fees.
