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Council considers adding perpetual-care surcharge to cemetery lot sales
Summary
Council discussed adding a perpetual-care surcharge to cemetery lot sales (proposals ranged from $25 to $100); staff noted cemetery mapping is incomplete and that revenue would be tracked separately; the fee was included in a draft city fee-resolution that council moved to consider.
Hooper City Council members discussed creating a perpetual-care fund for the municipal cemetery and adding a small surcharge to future lot sales to fund long-term maintenance.
Council members and staff described the idea as a way to ensure funding for cemetery upkeep after current plots are sold. Cammie (staff) suggested establishing a perpetual fee tied to each new lot sale; council members debated amounts ranging from $25 to $100 per plot. "If you plug in a number like $50 and then when we redo the budget, we can look and see," one council member said, recommending monitoring the fund over the next fiscal year before adjusting rates.
Staff noted the cemetery has several hundred parcels in the northwest corner that have not yet been fully mapped by the city's mapping consultant (JUB), and that lot counts are therefore not final. "We haven't even mapped the back east part yet," a staff member said, adding that precise lot counts are "not specified" until mapping is complete.
Council members favored adding the perpetual-care surcharge to the consolidated fee schedule rather than applying it retroactively to previously sold lots. One member noted that even a $50 surcharge would leave Hooper's cemetery lot prices lower than many neighboring jurisdictions.
The perpetual-care line was included in a resolution updating the consolidated city fee schedule. A motion to approve the fee-resolution, which would incorporate the perpetual-care surcharge, was made and seconded during the meeting; the transcript records the motion and second but does not record an explicit roll-call vote on the resolution at the Oct. 2 session.
Ending: Council directed staff to include a perpetual-care surcharge in the draft fee schedule and to monitor cemetery revenue and expenses during the next budget cycle; exact surcharge amount and final adoption to be confirmed when the fee-resolution returns for formal action.
