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County to update burial assistance policy to cover higher medical‑examiner cremation fee
Summary
Staff proposed and commissioners agreed to place on consent a policy update that adds the medical examiner's cremation sign‑off fee (increased from $50 to $75) to the county's burial assistance coverage; staff said the county paid approximately $137,070 of a $150,000 burial assistance budget in 2025.
Tina Ebertowski, supervisor in income maintenance who oversees adult and long‑term care teams, presented a proposed update to Crow Wing County’s burial assistance policy to reflect a rise in the medical examiner’s fee for cremation paperwork.
Ebertowski told commissioners that state statute requires the county to provide final disposition for persons without apparent means and that the county’s current policy authorizes either earth burial (county maximum $3,900 plus transportation) or cremation (county maximum $2,900), with the county preferring cremation. She said funeral homes are charged a medical examiner cremation sign‑off fee, which increased from $50 to $75 effective Jan. 1, 2026, and asked the board to add that examiner fee to the list of costs the county covers for cremations.
Ebertowski said the county received 77 burial applications in 2025 and approved 51; 62 applications were from funeral homes in Crow Wing County and 15 were from outside the county. She said the county budgeted $150,000 for burial assistance in 2025 and expended about $137,070 (the transcript number provided was ambiguous; staff presented the budget and expenditure figures during their report). The proposal made no other policy changes beyond adding the higher examiner fee for cremations.
Commissioners asked clarifying questions (for example, why the examiner signs off only on cremations) and confirmed they were comfortable placing the narrow policy change on the consent agenda. Staff said they will bring the amendment forward on consent at the next county board meeting.
