Coppell council raises nonresident price for Rolling Oaks plots to $10,000
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Summary
Coppell City Council amended the cemetery fee schedule for Rolling Oaks Memorial Cemetery, increasing the nonresident single-plot price to $10,000 and directing continued monitoring of sales and fees.
Coppell — The Coppell City Council on May 27 approved an amendment to the city's master fee schedule that raises the nonresident price for a single burial plot at Rolling Oaks Memorial Cemetery to $10,000.
The change was approved after a motion by Council member Walker, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Don Carroll, and carried unanimously. Council adopted the amended fee schedule as part of a resolution that also aligns the city's master fee schedule with previously passed operational changes.
Council members and cemetery staff said the increase is intended to improve cost recovery while protecting plot availability for Coppell residents. Sherry Belmont, assistant director of community experiences, told the council the city's proposed resident price would go from $2,000 to $5,500 and the prior staff proposal placed the standard nonresident rate around $7,000. Belmont said staff recommended the schedule based on market comparators and cost-recovery modeling: "We do plan to reevaluate fees obviously annually." Belmont also gave the council the city's first-year operating estimates: annual operating costs of roughly $1.8 million and projected cemetery-related revenue of about $2.2 million, producing an estimated net of about $420,000 in year one if projections hold.
Council members said they wanted to balance preserving resident access with long-term financial sustainability. "I'd rather go high on the nonresidents initially, if for anything just to give the residents a chance to catch up," Council member Jim said during the discussion. Several council members asked staff to provide more comparative pricing and regular reporting on resident-versus-nonresident sales so the council can adjust prices if market conditions change.
Belmont told the council the proposed new prices would apply to plots sold beginning June 1; under the amended operations plan, the cemetery would not open full pre-need services until Oct. 1, allowing staff a trial period to monitor sales and adjust prices before full implementation. Council also discussed staffing and the cemetery's perpetuity fund and heard that staff intends to monitor cost recovery and the resident/nonresident ratio and report at least annually.
The council's recorded action amends the master fee schedule and the cemetery fees; the motion passed with all members present voting in favor.
Looking ahead, staff said it will track sales under the new prices and bring any recommended adjustments back to council if market behavior or revenue projections differ substantially from current estimates.
