Kaysville council approves ordinance letting nonresidents buy burial rights with higher fee

Kaysville City Council on Sept. 4 approved an ordinance amending section 12-3-3 of the Kaysville City Code to allow nonresidents to purchase burial rights, and adopted an associated fee schedule intended to be higher than comparable private cemetery prices.

The change restores a pathway for people who are not current Kaysville residents to buy burial spaces in the municipal cemetery. The mayor told the council there had been three inquiries about burial rights in the past six months, which prompted staff to bring the amendment back to the council for consideration.

Parks and recreation staff presented the ordinance as a limited adjustment to the version the council adopted earlier this year that had restricted purchases to residents only. Cole (Parks and Recreation director) told council members the amendment preserves the existing “resident” carve-outs and adds a discrete nonresident option while aligning the fee schedule to be above private-sector providers so that the city’s offering remains a higher-cost alternative.

Council members split on whether to re-open the policy so soon after the February change. One council member said the amendment likely would not dramatically reduce the burial supply but might shorten the timeline by a few years; another urged patience and suggested waiting a year or more before revisiting. Supporters said the change creates a path for former residents who helped build the community but no longer live in Kaysville and who wish to be buried here.

Council discussion also noted the overall cost of the nonresident package of charges (the burial-right fee plus interment and perpetual-care fees) is substantially higher than resident rates; council members said the combined cost would be a material expense for anyone choosing the option. The mayor characterized the combined cost as a deliberate deterrent to rapid nonresident uptake while preserving an option for those with strong ties to the city.

Council Member Adams moved to approve the item (referred to on the agenda as action item A); the motion was seconded and carried. Council Member Jackson recorded a dissenting vote. The transcript does not record a roll-call tally of every vote.

What the ordinance changes: the amendment explicitly adds a nonresident purchase option to section 12-3-3 (Sale of burial rights) in Title 12 (Parks, Public Property and Recreation) of the Kaysville City Code and restores a consolidated fee line for burial-rights sales to the city’s fee schedule; resident carve-outs and other nonfee qualifications remain in place.

Council members asked staff to continue monitoring inquiries and cemetery capacity; one council member raised possible longer-term options such as using other city-owned land to expand cemetery capacity, but council did not take further action on capacity at the Sept. 4 meeting.

The ordinance was presented and debated in the regular council meeting; the council adopted the amendment and fee schedule as submitted to the council.