When it comes to dying, the price of living just went up.
The city council has approved a hike in cemetery prices by up to 30 percent to bring them up to market rate. The boost, along with new burial options and services, is aimed at lowering a perpetual deficit for the city cemetery department.
“This brings us online with other cemeteries,” said Asst. City Manager Carol Giovanatto.
“It’s a pricing structure commensurate with the industry.”
The city owns and maintains Valley Cemetery on MacAurthur, and the Mountain and Veterans Cemeteries on First St. West. The operation ran at $80,000 deficit last year. “The cemetery fund is a proprietary fund,” Giovanatto said. “It must act as a business.”
Mayor Steve Barbose said, “It’s not a viable business at the moment.”
Generating more revenue has long been the focus of the council’s Cemetery Sub-Committee. Council member August Sebastiani, who serves on the committee, urged support for what he called “an actual concrete proposal to help our financial situation.”
The measure passed last week 5-0.
With realistic rates in place, the priority becomes inventory. The lack of available space, most notably the lack of burial plots in Mountain cemetery, does not allow for “significant revenue increases,” Giovanatto said.
A physical inventory of Mountain Cemetery will be performed later this spring to determine if additional burial space is available.
Meanwhile the cemetery department has introduced dedicated land for those who wish to have their ashes scattered. Called a scattering garden, the option is becoming increasingly popular as an environmentally conscious choice at cemeteries like Fernwood in Mill Valley. “Those who respect the environment and the beauty of open space in life are choosing to become a part of the ecology upon their death,” according to Kathy Curry, Fernwood funeral director. “They want friends and family to have a place to visit that is a very beautiful, personal and perhaps a spiritual reminder of their life.”
The scattering garden, eco-friendly and economical, makes the most out of limited space. “The prospect of unlimited inventory for a business failing for lack of supply is a major breakthrough,” Robert Arnold told fellow members of the cemetery committee.
The committee also developed a color brochure, the first step in a marketing program. Previously, Giavanatto said, the city had no written material to help sell cemetery sites and services.
The price list for the first time includes rentals for a graveside services, including an awning, chairs and sound system. Those items would be rented by the cemetery department and then marked up with an administration fee.
In researching the new rates for graves, mausoleum space and crypts, the sub-committee compared prices of several area cemeteries and chose those of Napa and St. Helena as a model.
